Much ado about nothing

Sometimes I think I am bitchy

2011-09-03T22:42:00.000+08:00

Even though I keep telling myself that I am not, I think I too, can be bitchy, without myself knowing it. Then again, I think that bitchiness is something that people label you with.

You see, this morning I was supposed to meet a friend to go for the H&M opening here in the little red dot. I remember telling her last night that whoever wakes up first should call the other person so that we can all get ready and go and if we cannot make it on time, we then do not need to rush.

My work requires lots of physical activity and the fatigue spills over to my off days. I do not presume and purposely want my friend to know this. But the least I hope my friend could do is to stick to what was agreed upon. I woke up at 9am. We were scheduled to meet 9.30am. She did not call me and so I called her instead. She did not pick up her phone and I presumed that she was sleeping.

Turned out that she was bathing and could not pick up the call and called me at only about 9.15am or 9.20am there about. As I left a comment on my Facebook account, telling my other friend that if I did not manage to get in, that I will go for plan B, which was to go to Kinokuniya @ Bugis Junction, my friend (whom I was supposed to meet) lashed out and commented something like, "Guess who was the one who woke up late?".

After explaining to her that because I did not hear from her after I called her, I had presumed she was still asleep and went back to bed. I was dead tired. Nevertheless, I had already bathed and brushed my teeth. All that was left for me to do was to change and go.

She then replied to my comment implying that it was my fault and that I should not be blaming her (her exact words: "huh? is that my fault?"). I do not know whether it was PMS or whether it was too early in the morning but that comment hurt coz it was like my fault, then? In fact, at that point of time, I did not even remember what we agreed upon but was already starting to blame myself for all the unfortunate turn of events.

To tell you the truth though, even though I was so-called late, I still arrived at Somerset station before my friend. Says a lot doesn't it? I just felt like it was the pot calling the kettle black.

The queue was long and again, there was this air of impatience surrounding my friend. We collected the catalogue, took a bottle of oxygenated water and went off for breakfast. We rejoined the queue once breakfast was done. I felt the urgent need to go to the ladies and so I went. When I came back, my friend told me that her appointment in the evening had moved till mid-afternoon. I suggested we queue till a certain time before giving up and going over to Kinokuniya. She refused and said she would be on her way.

I queued alone but felt more at ease for at least, I don't feel such awkward silences and all those body language that I really did not need on my off day. I was halfway through the queue when she called me and asked where I was. I was pretty near the entrance already by then. She said she would rush back and join me in the queue and it was after hanging up that I saw her message for me to SMS her when I am inside.

That was what I did! I messaged her once I got in and she just reached the Somerset MRT (or outside, I do not know) but she was cursing and swearing over SMS that she had made a wasted trip. Just wondering though, how can it be totally wasted when you ARE headed towards the Yishun direction anyway? The only waste is the extra energy and time needed to walk over to H&M.

I suppose I was bitchy in not messaging her before I got in, but you know, there were lots of security. I do not know if they would have allowed her to just come in like that. Perhaps I was a coward and did not want to be embarrassed or perhaps, I just had enough from her for the day.

I can take a lot of things and not say anything coz I know no matter what I say, there would be some form of cleverer 'retaliation'. I sometimes even think that I bend backwards (or is it forwards?) too much for people but even this, I think I should say with caution, for fear that some other friends might lash out at me and say that THEY are the ones bending backwards for me.

This is not the first time this friend has lashed out at me. She is usually the one who is late and she used to be very late, even during our schooling days. When she is late, we cannot say much. But if WE were the ones that were late, gosh! We would get hell. Why are we still friends? I guess friends are hard to come by and being friends, to me, means to try to accept the good and bad sides of theirs.

I would not be surprised if I was yet again labelled bitchy for writing this post, but I just need to spill it out somewhere so that I can feel better inside.

The lengths we go through

2011-06-21T22:48:00.000+08:00

One of my friend will be holding her wedding reception this coming weekend. One of my ex-colleagues ever said that "it shows how important the friend is to the person by seeing what lengths they go through to prepare for it."

Not that I do not see other weddings as important. I think all of them are and I put equally the same amount of effort in preparation for them. This time though, there would be no make-up artist/ hairstylist but still lots have gone into preparing in any case.

I have gone for a proper hair cut and colour Vs my $10 haircut cum home colouring. I am also sussing out a place to do my nails. Going to do french manicure for the first time in my life. I have sort of grown my nails for it. no actually it is because now that I have quit my previous job, I no longer need to be mindful of having short nails all the time. For now, that is.

I thought I had everything ready: the dress, the shoes, the hair, the nails. I have even been practising and trying out different make-up like the colour of eye-shadows, etc. No problem, right? Wrong.

The dress that looked so befitting and elegant for the occasion was unfit for wearing. I grew more meat on my back and could not zip up for the life of me. Mum told me to go get a nice dress for myself. There are very affordable and yet pretty ones on the market nowadays. Woah! My Mum, my fashion consultant. Ha!

Therefore I happily went out to buy myself one thinking it was the most perfect dress for the occasion. I was sooooo wrong. When Mum saw it, she practically yelled her head off and told me that I had bad taste. She did not stop until I went inside my room. Dad was kinder. He said it looked like uniform and stopped at that. Both were not impressed with my buy. Mum even questioned on why I always bought the same colour and yet looked like nurses' uniforms.

Well, part of the reason is because it IS from the same shop! As for the colour, I guess I just like the teal colour which kinda reminds me of the peacocks. Plus this one's texture was satin, a material I thought very appropriate for the occasion.

I was so upset with Mum that I lost sleep over it. Terrible as I do not want dark eye circles on that day. I am known to be stubborn and adamant about my decisions but I guess, I have always wanted to win the approval of my Mum, which is why I was so upset.

In the end, I decided on several things: Ask Mum to accompany me to buy the dress; exchange the dress for another one that I did try the day before; keep the dress and buy another one.

In the end, Mum met me at Bugis and several shops later, we managed to get one. What can I say? Mum knows best? Well, I guess it is also the secret thrill of having her spend some Mother-daughter time with me. As for the teal coloured dress? It is still sitting at home. I have seven, no six days to decide whether I want to exchange or not.

I really love weddings, special occasions and such. I love dressing up for such occasions even more! Hopefully I will look presentable this weekend!

p/s: The first dress I bought had a French name that has a literal meaning of "life in shades of pink". I happen to like most of the stuff that they sell there. Although having a French name, the clothing are all from Japan.

Flower power

2011-06-18T23:51:00.000+08:00

I did say that I was not totally idle while looking for my new career direction. Besides helping my friend handle enquiries and registering participants for the terrarium workshops during the Singapore Biennale 2011, I was also helping out her mum, who has a flower stall at one of the markets in Ang Mo Kio Ave 4. Above are some of the pictures I took of the flowers. The box of leaves are those that we plucked from the stems.

Here are the pictures from the Biennale workshops@ Old Kallang Airport:

This market was burnt down by a big fire and took quite a long time to rebuild. Thank goodness now all is well. My friend's father just passed on, her mum was sick one day but still insisted on going to open her stall and in a last minute attempt, asked me to go down to help her.

Therefore I did! What an experience it was! The stall may be just be a simple stall but so much went on that day. I became the jasmine flower/ jasmine chain packer. It was not simply selling flowers for one had to know a little about praying. Some would come and ask for flower petals, some would buy those green lemons (those with crumpled skin). Yet others would ask for pomelo leaves. Those jasmine chains are like necklaces that go around the necks of Hindu and/or Thai Gods.

It might just be a stall but there is a lot of PR going on. Auntie (my friend's mum) has built up a good relationship with her customers over the years and she has lots of regular customers. Most of them who come will wait for her to pack the flowers. They do not even need to tell her. They will tell me that Auntie knows and some will tell me,"You don't know one lah!" LOL.

Was quite shy at first but after a while, got used to the idea of working at the market and began asking customers what they want, do they want jasmine petals to go with their flowers, etc. Due to the fact that the next day was going to be the 15th of the lunar month, it was super busy. When there were no customers, auntie would be busy packing bouquets of flowers as she already knows which regulars would drop by later and what they wanted.

On other days when the store is not officially open, we would be busy packing and 'tidying' up the flowers in preparation to sell them. All these were good training for me for I will also be doing similar stuff in my new job, albeit in an air conditioned environment.

There is lots of camaraderie around the market too. The fruit stall sellers opposite will look out for Auntie's stall and we always have lunch together. Those were happy times. Everyone was every one's friend and the customers were all chummy. Some were very understanding and were more patient while others complained about me giving too little jasmine petals. :P

Well, I think I will still go back there once in awhile to help out, even after I start my new job. It is good to feel grounded like that.

To-Fu Oyako!

2011-06-18T22:45:00.003+08:00

http://youtu.be/SG3IEkxp2N8
Recently, I have been hanging out a lot with my kindergarten friend and she is very much into what I would call pop culture stuff. Some of these things do rub off on me, like this TO-FU Oyako character. The toy to me is what a blankie or a soft toy is to a child. Provides me with lots of fun and cheeriness and some sort of calming security.

As much as I try to be all grown up now, I still need the child-like side of me. Time for me to go play-pretend. Hahaha!!

Click on the link to enjoy!

Positivity

2011-06-18T22:40:00.000+08:00

Wow! It was one wait after another but I can finally say that the wait is almost over. It is a positive wait this time though for most of the details have been confirmed. With much luck, I will start work soon.

I know I have said that I did not like customer service because of the not-so-nice customers and yet, I feel that my strength is still there. Even though I 'claim' that I am a shy person, but I think it is a bit of an opposites attract kinda logic. During this period when I am not working, I was not totally idle. I did do certain things that helped me (re)build my confidence in meeting people. Guess I will blog about it in my next post.

For now, I am just glad that things are turning out the way it should and that at least, the sense of helplessness of being penniless would be gone soon. Although some (if not most) may say that I am over-qualified for this position, but only I myself will know what is best for me right now. At least, I am making my own dream come true.

It is going to be a new start, a new beginning. I do not know how many new starts I am going to have but I certainly hope that this will be my last. I know, some might be metaphorically throwing rotten eggs at me for things that I have said in the past, about my other career and life choices. But I believe that everyone has their own paths to take and mine, was just a little different from others. I would like to believe that it is because I am special :)

Waiting for the sunshine after the rain/storm

2011-06-09T15:01:00.000+08:00

Life is looking better. I have actually been called up for a second interview but it has made me even more nervous. I was nervous before because they told me that I had to wait 2 weeks for my 'results'. If I were shortlisted, I would get a call. If not, I will receive a letter to notify me of my failure to pass that first interview. 2 weeks. It's a long wait.

Now I am nervous because I will be meeting the upper management. I need to remind myself to be myself, but at the same time, I need to run through some thought-out questions over and over in my head. But whatever it is, I know that He is always with me, just like He has been, through all these difficult times. I can truly now say that He really listens.

Things are falling into place and there was something that I volunteered for, which is now also moving on smoothly. I suppose one cannot stay idle for too long. At least I cannot, even though I would like to. I get into a state of panic.

As the old saying goes, when you have the money, you don't have the time, and when you have the time, you don't have the money to do what you have always wanted to do.

Once I get work, I would like to save up for a bicycle. Then I would like to get a hand beater or a cake mixer so that I can bake cakes and such. I can almost see the sun now. Hopefully it will come shine brightly soon!

Lives and deaths

2011-06-07T01:22:00.001+08:00

Oh yes, in the midst of finding jobs and cleaning up, something else happened. My very close friend's father passed away. How close were we? We knew each other since kindergarten. That is how close we are.

Despite that though, I seldom got to see her Dad. I only got to see him recently when he gave me a lift home. Gosh! Little did I realise that it would be the last time I would see him alive.

Even though I have only recently gotten back into contact with this friend of mine, but I feel really close to her and her family. Maybe it is because we all speak Cantonese. I went everyday to the wake and accompanied them even, for the "very last journey".

Once again, it hit home that one day, my Dad's turn will come. He was the same age as my friend's Dad and the similarities of their age, just made me that much more sober about the times that I spend with my Dad (and my Mum, of course).

It's like I want to live each day more purposefully and also to be more conscious about interacting with my parents coz when they are six feet under, it would then be too late. Then again, no matter how much we have done, we will always have regrets and I think I also need to prepare myself for that. Sounds serious and more grievous, but it has once again made me realise the fragility and importance of life.

Clean my house, clean my heart

2011-06-07T01:09:00.000+08:00

I have taken a very long time to heal myself. I was...on the verge of a breakdown/meltdown and everything else one can imagine, but I think I am slowly recovering.

Well, I don't really like to blog about these stuff coz some friends would think it is all a joke and that I am perfectly fine. Or maybe, deep down they thought that by laughing it off, my problems will go away. Well, even this reaction, I have learned to handle it. It is called coping and managing relationships I guess.

Yes, I may have to revisit the fact that my heart and soul was not completely healed from the time that I got divorced. Not sure whether I blogged about it before but I was walking home one day when a thought suddenly came to me: that my soul was so much in tatters that it was threatening to break (if it were made of glass). That was realisation. It was not full acknowledgement yet.

I suppose, the acknowledgement came when I decided to resign. I decided to just throw caution to the wind and see where I could go from here. Meanwhile. I wanted a complete rest. A real sort of rest so that I can really stop and collect my thoughts, collect my actions and decide what I want to do from here.

In the first days and even weeks (just one actually) of jobless-ness, I was in self-denial. I was playing cafe world. :P Almost most of the day. Then I watched Clean House on Style Network (came with the new cable TV upgrade that I fought for). There was this strong message that the cleaning of the house, is actually sort of like cleaning of the soul. It was to give the heart a sort of closure.

There were some, who lost their parent(s) and just left the houses the way that the parent left it, messy or not. There are also those who became compulsive buyers because they lost someone dear to them. This was when I decided that I really needed to clean my room and my stuff up. If not to close the chapter of the unhappy marriage (there are some stuff left tucked somewhere), it would be in preparation for a new part of the journey. Well, even this line sounds familiar.

I know, I seem to keep starting over and over again, but I don't think everybody is perfect. I feel that seemingly perfect people are just trying to cover up some of their own imperfections. One of my friends recently agreed that yes, everyone is actually lost. It's just a matter of admitting it or not. I maybe wrong about this weird logic about perfections and imperfections, but I believe, I am entitled to my point of view.

I am still tidying up but I have given away quite a number of clothes and bags and also quite a number of rubbish have been cleared. I think these are symbolic of my own heart. That I am throwing what is not wanted away, so that I can receive the new. Already, my heart feels lighter and things seem to be getting better.

Tomorrow, I will go for a job interview. You can say it is my dream job, for now at least. I don't want to say "ever" because I don't want people saying "you see? you said it was your dream job and now look....".

I may look fickle up front, but at least I am making an effort. Some would also think that this job is nothing much, but I don't think it is an easy job at all. At least to be professional, I have what it takes to do it. Well, thank goodness that He was there in strange, funny ways, that I am able to sprout all these so-called bravado.

In any case, I hope to get my life back on track and I also hope to blog more often. Soon.

Heal myself before healing the world

2011-04-13T14:27:00.000+08:00

Yesterday, one of my friends sms-ed me and asked me how I was and whether I was actually too busy dating.

Well, I think I have passed the stage of thinking about dating. Just want to concentrate on living and surviving for the moment. Luckily for me (and perhaps not so luckily for my friends), I still have some single friends left whom I can hang out with.

In fact, I am helping them at their terrarium stall at the Singapore Biennale at the Old Kallang Airport. This in itself keeps me pretty occupied. Plus, I have started my hatha yoga lessons as well at the Community Club. It is greatly therapeutic. That, combined with my aerobics dance class, is taking up most of my time already.

I really need to learn to channel the right energy to the right places. Actually, while walking home from the town centre one day, I suddenly came upon this realisation as to how brittle my soul was and how I had these many deep set, buried issues that I need to dig out and throw away.

I suppose I need to continue to heal myself in a different way. Even though many of my friends have gotten attached and/or are getting married, I should re-learn to be with myself and just be happy by myself. After all, I used to do that a lot, didn't I?

Hmm....I think I am in that kind of space again. But this time, I am going to face it head on. Puzzled? Don't be, coz I think only I can understand all this gibberish :)

Good day!

Shape up!

2011-03-16T00:17:00.000+08:00

OK, I know that is a lousy cliched title, but I really do mean it!

I went to sign up for an aerobics dance class and a hatha yoga class at my community club yesterday. Time that I shaped up. I feel that I cannot go on living life like this anymore. I used to hike a lot but ever since I fell out with my ex-housemate (cum friend), I could not really find any other person who is as accommodating as she is. You see, my legs are not long. When a person is taller than me (which is often the case), their one step is my two steps. I take twice the effort. She and some of my old hiking friends, were the ones who would stop or wait up for me a little. I get a little out of breath too, given my slightly asthmatic condition and so, I was very appreciative.

Since I am going to live a life of celibacy, might as well just get used to the idea of doing things alone. Or, if I do not want to live a life of celibacy and want to attract the opposite sex, then I better start shaping up. Actually, I am now doing this a lot more (90%) for myself as I do not want to be ridden with illness when I grow older.

These two activities only cover two fifths of the average exercise days that I should be having, which is 5 out of the 7. So, I am still trying to look for other activities to fill my evenings and perhaps, weekends.

Thoughts about the Japanese Tsunami

2011-03-12T21:29:00.000+08:00

It's been a long time since I blogged. It feels like an eternity. Sometimes, I am so tired, that I do not even turn on my computer. No actually, I am not turning it on for the sake of my health. It is said that using the computer at night will make one too awake to want to go to sleep.

Yes, I have been suffering form insomnia, a little. Not sure whether it is due to the usage of the computer or because of other issues.

The reason why I am blogging now is because something big has stirred up a lot of emotions inside me. I was cooped up in the office all day and had no idea what was going on in the outside world. When taking the train back home, it has now become my habit to whip out my phone and go to facebook to check for updates from friends (another reason why I do not use the computer so much).

It was only then that I realised that there has been an earthquake and tsunami in Japan. News really spread quickly and we do not ONLY rely on tradition media such as the television or the radio to receive information anymore.

At first I was quite nonchalant about it all, thinking that it was all happening in a land faraway from here. But reading the news and receiving messages from friends commenting on the magnitude of the whole incident suddenly made me think that one day, in the not so faraway future, this could actually be happening to us, an island country that is but a dot in the map of the world.

Then I thought about my friend all the way in Europe and about her story on her relative that was connected to the tsunami of the recent years that passed. I suddenly had so much emotions welling up in my chest that I immediately sent a message to say "hello".

Perhaps it could also have been the message that was sent out by L'oreal Paris Singapore on facebook to ask everyone to pray in their own way for the people of Japan. That really touched me as well. At that point of time, after 12 midnight, laying on my bed, I just felt that no matter what hardships and difficulties that I was going through, it all seem to minute to be important. It was less important than the warmth and love I felt from family and friends; less important than the fact that today, I am still alive, while someone else's life had been swept away, perhaps even without them knowing that it would be their last.

No, I have never really felt like this before. Or perhaps, I refused to be too 'involved' when such natural disasters happened. Somehow though, this time it was a little different. Maybe because it felt so real as everyone was talking about it over facebook.

I will keep praying for those who are in Japan now. Just like how I know my proper fire evacuation procedures, the Japanese are well prepared from their years of practice with their own emergency evacuation exercises. They will find a good way out of this situation right now.

Happy CNY!

2011-02-05T01:26:00.000+08:00

Woah! It's been a long time since I blogged. Feeling so lazy and tired of thinking actually.

Anyway, Happy Chinese New Year (CNY) everybody. It has been a long year and now, there is still more to go on for. Some people have their 5-year plans but I tend to not follow conventions. There is a little rebel in me that wants to go against things, you see?

Anyhow, it is somehow time to think about some future directions: my career, my relationships, my life (if and when my parents are no longer around anymore). Sorry, but festivities tend to make me think of such morbid stuff coz the relatives get fewer and fewer and I am forced to see the reality that my parents will not be there for me forever. This also makes me wake up a little and treasure them a lot more.

Well, other than having a happy CNY, the most important thing is to have good health, everyone. This is another area that I want to focus on for this new year. It is tres important as it allows me to do a lot more things more efficiently.

Book launch

2010-12-17T02:24:00.001+08:00

Got asked to go for a soft launch of a book called Face Hunter. Really interesting coz this guy likes to take pics of people. This guy's name is Yvan Rodic. Go google him as he has got a blogspot going on.

The launch was held at this place called "A curious teepee" at *Scape (next to Orchard Cineleisure). The whole place was selling somewhat quirky, artsy stuff and there was free flow of alcohol and finger food. There were mini quiche lorraines and fusion peking duck-shredded duck skin (with a little meat intact) stuffed with shredded cucumbers and oyster sauce in a mini ice cream cone. Lovely!

Most heavenly though, was the panna cotta. It was so yummy, I had 2 helpings. Of course, nothing could have been yummier than the author himself who spoke with heavily French accented English. When I asked my friend, turns out he is a Swiss living in France. Just perfect.

It was a perfect unwinding evening, my girl friend and I. We just looked at the merchandise the shop had to offer, saw the bartenders perform their shake-shake-shake (twice or more) and later on, sat down to people-watch. There were indeed lots of beautiful people tonight. Thoroughly enjoyed myself. Now I can sleep with a smile :)

p/s: the reason that I am still up and typing all this, is solely due to the expresso martini that I had. Hick!

Yoshitomo Nara

2010-12-12T13:42:00.001+08:00

Went to the S.A.M @8Q yesterday to watch a documentary about Yoshitomo Nara. His paintings are quite amazing and it reminds me of the ones that Carrie Chau (the Hong Kong artist) does. I just wonder who is copying who. Or maybe, nobody is copying nobody. They just look child-like.

I find that there is so much more that the museums here are offering now and I really feel I can just go to one of them and soak in all the artsy stuff that is around me and stay there for ages. Going to more documentaries of artists next weekend. It is all part of the Trans-Cool Tokyo exhibition that is going on now at the 8Q.

Got a discount off the documentary tix and free museum pass too! Discount coz my friend works there and free pass is due to the buying of the tix. There ARE ways and access to arts and culture in a more reasonable way :)

Here's a linke to info on Nara:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoshitomo_Nara

Re-discovering stamps and sending snail mail

2010-12-12T13:08:00.000+08:00

I just sent out a parcel last Thursday. It gave me the funniest, tingly,warm, fuzzy, feeling ever, that I have not felt for the longest time. I used to send parcels and such, but that was a long time ago.

I must say, I was even nervous when I was sending it. I was not quite sure how I should place the stamps and what I should do. It did not make it any easier that the post office was going to close in about less than half an hour. There just simply was not enough space to put all the stamps. I suppose it was partly my fault and that of the customer service officer. Hee, we got carried away with the different designs of the stamps.

When she found out that I liked different stamps and that I knew a little about the different series (I was just pointing out the limited edition festive series of stamps) and she was so nice to decide to give me a whole melange of stamps to send to my dear friend in a far away land.

I suppose it is not what everyone would do in this day and age of digital world but I think sending and receiving a parcel is such a traditional and yet simple way of cheering oneself and the receiver. I don't know about you, but I would be cheered up no end :) In fact nowadays, receiving a letter cheers me up no end already.

The only funny thing is how they try to persuade you into paying for your mail to be registered. Another customer service officer (not the one who sold me stamps) told me that if I were to go by regular mail, then it would be impossible to trace if the parcel got lost. Slowly thinking back, I think this is a little like a slap on their own faces by indirectly telling me that there is no guarantee of good, efficient and reliant service as our parcels may get lost.

Besides, if I really wanted a guaranteed, registered mail, I would have just gone to DHL, FedEx or the likes. I would not have wasted time queueing up to buy stamps.

Anyway, I suppose this is their way of up-selling, just like how in the hotel industry (as I have learned in my course before) that you try to up-sell by suggesting similar but higher priced products.

Well, I am off to write those Christmas cards and sending them off soon! So that hopefully, I can receive some of that Christmas cheer in the mail.

Being supportive (altnernative title: Doubts)

2010-12-12T12:33:00.000+08:00

Last night, one of my good friends finally tied the knot. Actually, she and hubby had already registered for marriage some years back, but in the traditional Chinese eyes, one is not really married until they have had a banquet. This is usually a Chinese dinner at a restaurant or hotel ballroom.

As usual, the question about jobs turned up and I started talking to another close friend (let's name her K) about it. I was telling her how my Dad had sold the car and stuff like that simply because he feels that it is too much for him to upkeep. She then said that I could have taken over the payment of the car installments and I told her that with my current salary, I can hardly pay for myself.

I really do think that my professional is really hard to sustain as one would need like 200% of passion in order to continue. I think I still have it but it is just discouraging when my own Dad does not even feel supportive of what I do. Now, can I blame the government, the market out there or myself for choosing this profession? I suppose it is everything rolled into one.

It is a little of the government's 'fault' for taking so long to up the status of my present profession and it is a case of "too little, too late". It is the local market's fault as my profession did not need degree holders to do the job before (they still don't but they make the diploma real tough that one would have thought one was taking a PhD). It is also my fault for feeling so comfortable where I am working now that I do not feel like stepping out to look for the same job but with higher paying bosses.

Then of course, K said something that also discouraged me a little: She said that "I don't know, I think it is important to have a good-paying job".

Well, I suppose from her point of view it is true for what she goes for is quite different to what I go for, plus she does have a family to support.

I would very much like to say that I totally love my pay and my job and that I do not have any doubts about changing professions but that would be very fake of me. I do have my doubts and worries as my parents ARE getting older and I must have more savings. What I can say now though, is that I still have got enough passion to continue with my profession but I am not eliminating the possibility of changing professions in the near future.

Yes, I know, my market value, be it as a life partner or in the workforce, has now de-valued with age, but I think one thing that my present profession has taught me is to be contented with many things and not ask for too much :) That means, I am not in panic mode yet. Haha!

Reverting back to the old ways

2010-10-17T16:25:00.000+08:00

This morning, I had cheese, ham and bread for breakfast. This is largely due to the fact that I am just back from Amsterdam and Paris, where I enjoyed eating breakfast like that.

This way of eating is not new to me. I used to do it once in a while to remind myself of the lifestyle I led in Suisse and in Oz. I did tell Spacecake and OLKgal that I do not mind eating bread everyday. I really don't, but coming back home also made me realise that having other choices is good too. That's only because we have been exposed to different types of food.

The fact that the types of Asian food being so reasonably priced made me appreciate it even more. I peered into one "Malaysia Restaurant" in Amsterdam and a dish of Nasi Lemak cost 17.50 Euros!!! Laksa was also around that price. No doubt, one would be served and be sitting in a suitably climatised room (either air-con or heater, depending on season) but the fact that I could eat Nasi Lemak at 10 times cheaper just made me...more humble when it came to eating here now.

The bready part of me though, laments at the lack of finding nice sandwich and salad type foods here, locally. I suppose I can only look to Subway and Delifrance for comfort and a quick fix then.

My preferred Asian style of breakfast will still be fried bee hoon and coffee with evaporated milk, but more often now, I will have more bread readily available at home .

Of all times!

2010-10-17T16:11:00.000+08:00

Of all times, my USB port connecting my camera to the PC has malfunctioned. Of all times that I am so super enthusiastic about uploading my pics!

Well, I suppose I will just blog on first and bring the poor fella in for a check-up after my exams are over. My on-site visit is tomorrow and I am nervous like hell but I shall have the Lord by my side and I will conquer it all. Two years of studying and it is finally over. Yet, I am looking at taking up French again and perhaps, perhaps, even Dutch. Got to weigh out the opportunity costs though. Not sure whether I want to learn Dutch due to the fact that I have been there and that my friend is there (i.e. vain lah) or do I really want to learn a new language?

See? That's me. Very...undecided :P

Back!

2010-10-14T21:22:00.000+08:00

I'm back from the Netherlands and Paris!!!! I feel so refreshed and inspired to do lots of things. Although I do not know how long my inspirations will last.

There are lots to share and many pictures to upload. As usual, you would have to wait awhile. Got to sort out my exams first (which is on next Monday). Will try to share as quickly as I can though and may even consider opening a flicker or picasa account. Hahaha...I know, I know. Should have done that yonks ago! Better late than never, I say!

Tot ziens!

My poor woollen argyle sweater

2010-09-16T00:17:00.001+08:00

I find myself quick to anger nowadays. Today, it was over this woollen sweater that I had bought from Uniqlo. It is fine Merino wool and I had told my mum that it is to be hand-washed and I just put it on the back rest of my chair, in my room.

It was my fault. I should have just added, "Please do not wash it. I will do it myself".

It was too late. When I came home, I saw the nice off white with pink and grey argyle patterned sweater on a hanger, drying on a 'bamboo' pole. My heart froze. For one should never hang woollen stuff like that. The water is just going to weigh everything down and the clothing will go out of shape.

I tried to salvage it but I think it was too late. The collar looks warped and the whole thing looks out of shape, elongated. I tried to control my anger and wrote a nice note to Mum telling her what I have done (put the sweater on top of clean plastic sheets, on the floor. They do not say "lay flat" or "dry flat" for nothing. I told her that I was not angry and that I hope we would come to a better understanding next time.

It was no use though for after she came back and I explained to her, I had a closer look (for I really did not bear to really look at it) and it just looked..warped and out of shape (sort of). The best part was Mum tried to lighten the whole situation and say, "Aiyah, how much can one sweater cost?"

I suppose when one earns less, one will treasure things a lot more. It felt very painful to me as I had not even started wearing the piece of clothing. She continued to say what's the big deal and that I could always buy it next month.

Helloo!!!! Knock-knock! I bought this for my Amsterdam trip and I am flying off at the end of this month. HOW TO BUY?????? So angry with her flipping remarks. The more she talked about the monetary bit, the angrier I got. The anger was not really there at first. It is after all $49.90. It is probably about 10 meals for a person and enough to feed a whole family.

Well, maybe I am anal too but a warped piece just would not look the same. It just makes me look frumpy and sloppy. Besides, I am not the slimmest or tallest of people. The increase in length and width would simply not flatter my figure (or what is left of it).

It did not help that Dad thought that I was the one to blame. He asked me why did I put it in the laundry basket in the first place, which I did not. Had to explain it all over again to him that it was very clearly put in my room.

After several painful screams in my own room, Mum finally came in to 'apologise'. This could take awhile but writing this is helping me get rid of the anger. Feeling better already and would just have to bear with it and wear it, I suppose. I am trying very hard not to get angry.

From a spiritual point of view

2010-09-12T20:03:00.000+08:00

Sometimes, when I feel that I am at a very low point in my life, God appears before me through His words and the little things that happen around me.

I was still very upset about yesterday and was feeling really low. It is the first time our friendship was put to the test like that and I was still hurt by what my friend had said. I prayed about it all the way while walking to church and it turned out that today's readings and sermon was about forgiveness. Father John told us that we had to "learn to forgive". How apt. How simple and yet how deep. It is not an easy thing to do, forgiveness. But yet, when we do it, it is "to celebrate freedom". I felt a big stone being lifted as I hear all this.

Moreover, there were lots unexplainable things that made me reflect a lot today. Perhaps that is why it is called "Reflection" on the church bulletin. The first line read:" People hurt us by their actions and we react by deciding to hurt them in return." Kinda made me think about my ex-housemate and friend that I fell out with. I did not do anything to hurt her in return and, from my point of view, I did really do anything to hurt her in the first place. Knowing her though, she would have, by now, painted a bad picture of me (to herself and other people) so that she can justify why our friendship turned sour. I may be wrong though, I may be wrong.

God is trying to tell me something; He is perhaps telling me to move on with life. This I should do. Plus as I was praying to Him, I drew parallelism to the fact that Jesus was always going against the flow and having to fend for Himself. I was somewhat like that yesterday. I was (metaphorically) cornered and I was not given a choice to even explain myself. My views and words were all pushed aside. It was horrible. Jesus must have felt very helpless too, when He could not save Himself from inevitable death at that time.

I am still reflecting and these reflections are purely my own thoughts. I guess what I wanted to say is that "God is so good to me. He gives me comfort when I most needed it".

Weird day

2010-09-11T22:48:00.001+08:00

I had quite a weird day today. It started good. The friend and I went to eat at this Thai place that we both liked and we went to my God Bro's exhibition. We went around aimlesslessly and museum hopped a little (except that we did not go in coz we had to pay). We even went to visit a Catholic Church and I explained to the friend about the rosary.

Then we went to have coffee at this coffee shop and I said something wrong and the friend got very upset. The friend 'cornered' me (in a metaphorical manner) and the friend raised voice at me and I was so upset I cried. I wanted to up and go for I felt that the friend was being unreasonable and did not allow me to have my say. The friend also said some hurtful but somewhat true things.

You know, I hate this. I think in life, everybody's purpose is to make other people believe in their own views and make others agree with them while making them ditching their own. Sometimes, I find it such a struggle to get heard. Or maybe, I did get heard. Just that I am not hearing.

Plus I feel that my whole life is a whole life full of explanations to others on why I am imperfect and why I am wrong. I feel that everyone in this world is insecure. The way that they cover up their insecurity is to 'win' others, do better than others, seem to do more than others and to 'force' their own views upon others. The more they do this, the more insecure they are. Maybe I am generalising. Maybe I am not.

Such is the world I see. Such is what I have derived upon after our ARGUMENT. Our first. I cannot believe that I sat there and accepted all that nonsense, but I did.

Actually, I have long had the idea about "insecurity" but today, I was so cornered and felt so belittled (in my own way, you can call it self-pity if you want) that I had to pen it down. I am a mess inside now. The friend has opened a can of worms. The friend has forced me to look inside myself and made me feel very lousy. It is not entirely my friend's fault though for I have stereotyped the friend and thus the anger that arose.

We both apologised and I managed to humanely sit down and talk through the whole issue all over in a slightly calm manner. I came home, with my insides still all mangled up, as if I have met with a very bad accident. I think you can see from my erratic writing and thoughts.

I would need time to lick my egoistical wounds, I suppose. Writing this down helps.

Updates of my life

2010-09-05T22:28:00.000+08:00

I am so busy nowadays, juggling work, final exams for my studies and preparing for my trip to Europe, that I hardly have time to blog.

I am also busy trying to look for alternatives to the things I use on a daily basis. Things like facial cleansers, make-up, make-up removers and body wash, etc. Other than the Neutrogena facial wash and the waxing strips, I have found a Japanese brand of make-up remover called "Cleansing Express". It works pretty well and so far so good for my skin. No funny red patches yet.

I have also found the drugstore brand of make-up called Kate that is very good! They are actually by the makers of Kanebo make-up but they are selling it at more affordable prices at drugstores, giving customers more value for money. The Face Shop is also my 'good friend' now.

Just today, I was going to buy some long sleeved cotton t-shirts for my trip (to keep myself warmer and for layering purposes). I first went to GAP as I had bought a very nice cotton tee that was lightweight and yet, served its purpose in keeping me warm. The damage would be $39.90. I decided to drop by at Uniqlo at ION. They had a much thicker long sleeved cotton tee going for $14.90! Grabbed it! Plus it was premium cotton, very good to the touch.

I suppose now it is more of learning how to shop smart and I am also learning that drugstore (i.e. cheaper stuff) stuff does not necessarily mean bad news. It is sometimes better than the expensive stuff.

Well, going to bed now, for I need to get to work by 7 am tomorrow. Night everyone!

THAT porridge place

2010-08-11T23:31:00.000+08:00

Well, I have always said that I would take some pictures and show you what the porridge looks like etc, etc. Here they are:

The name of the stall: Guangdong zhou pin. Translated, it roughly means porridge from the Guangdong province

My favourite pork ball porridge with fried dough fritters. They make their own pork balls and there are lightly browned sesame seeds and some other preserved veggie that makes it yummy. They are bigger than most other pork balls too!

Lovely day

2010-08-10T01:52:00.000+08:00

Met up with some girlfriends to have tea and we ended up having such a nice, arty kind of afternoon. First stop: K.Ki at Ann Siang Hill. Quaint little place with nice environment and nice people. Here are some pics:

Then we went to this place called Stevie General Store. They sell second hand almost everything and they have got quite a nice selection of retro clothes. Not that cheap though but the owners are really nice.

The owners also sell a collection of second hand books, which they themselves have read and like. They were very humorous and so was their way of tagging their items. There was a bust of Bruce Lee which they labelled as "One of Ip Man's disciples". Thought it rather witty. Just that I cannot remember the rest.

We then hopped over to Books Actually which was diagonally across the road. This shop is now 3 stories high and if I wanted old typewriters and those toy baby grand pianos made in China, I would know where to buy them.

All in all, it was a lazy afternoon, spent with 3 ladies and rounded up with very good dinner at Spizza's.

The Face Shop

2010-08-02T00:43:00.000+08:00

Three Face Shops in the span of 3 days later, I managed to complete what I needed to buy and found the satisfactory customer service in the third and last shop.

The first shop I went to was at Wisma Atria. The girl who served me was only interested in me buying lots and lots. When she realised that I was not going to do so, she became very lukewarm. I had already surfed their site and actually knew what I wanted: Eye pencils which were eyeshadows and this green eye shadow which the eye pencil range was not going to offer me.

Turned out that they were having a promotion: take one or two (I cannot remember) eyeshadows and a blusher in order to get a special discounted rate. But I didn't need a blusher! The sales person's head could not turn fast enough. It was like a straight road with no side turns and slip roads. She could have simply suggested that I get what I wanted and she would still have a made a better sale than my two pencils.

Next, there was the cashier. After asking me "Do you have membership?", she decided to converse with me totally in Mandarin, even though I actually spoke to her in ENGLISH! Rude and how can one not be able to speak English when she is working in the customer service industry. It IS our language of communication after all.

Second shop I went to was at the HDB Hub. I was looking for that green eyeshadow palette but could not find it. I was tempted to use Mandarin but decided to test the sales person. She was not very good with her English but at least she attempted to speak to me. That, I applaud her. Only thing was, she had no turns and slip roads either. The green palette was out of stock and she just gave me an apologetic look and smile. She could have suggested the triple baked eyeshadow instead.

The last shop was at Junction 8, Bishan. I could not remember whether I spoke English or Mandarin but what made me buy more than I intended was because the sales person knew when to retreat and when to come forward to assist me when help was needed. I finally got my green palette eyeshadow and this liquid foundation with BB cream. She was very patient and detailed with her explanation of the foundation and seeing that I was looking at the placard for the detailed explanation, she took it up for me to read. Nice!

If I were not put off by the mouldy looking powder puff in the tester, I might have already bought their loos powder from them. Lucky thing I did not though, for I found Kate (cosmetics brand by Kanebo in open shelf style) at Watson's and their loose powder was at almost half the price of that from The Face Shop. Phew! More savings!

Lazy but productive Sunday

2010-08-02T00:26:00.000+08:00

Wanted to study and do my work at Coffeebean & Tealeaf (Junction 8) today. Was also craving for eggs benedict since I have been cooking it in Cafe World.

The minute I reached there, I was quite put off, as they had put up a sign "no studying" on all their tables. No studying for me then. Then, when I saw the picture and portion of the eggs benedict that they had, I kind of lost all apetite for...it did not look as good as the one in Cafe World. Hahahaha...! It looked too dry and the portion looked too small for my already very hungry apetite. I ordered a "brek 'o day" instead.

I suppose I was too hungry and my brains already told my stomach that the food was not going to be nice and so I did not feel that filled up at all. Not wanting to stay there to try my luck, I left after gulping down my coffee. Plus, the table next to me kept having the irritating message tone from her Nokia and I found that rude.

Anyhow, I ended up buying some cosmetics for myself (see next posting too) as I did a clearance of what I had before. Most of my old stuff are now not usable as they have been left in the box for too long. Don't want to put mould onto my face.

Wanting to buy groceries from Cold Storage, I took the MRT to Novena and instead of going to the supermarket immediately, I decided to park my toosh at TCC. What a lovely decision!

I ordered a side of calamari rings and a herbal tea called "Exotic French" and had a lovely time getting some stuff done! There were lots of distractions though, especially these two friends, a guy and a girl, dissing Facebook. They were just trying to act uppity, if you ask me.

The girl was telling him that some friends update their status and things like somebody in their family died also gets posted and he immediately replied," I think that is too personal to put isn't it? I will never put something like that on Facebook".

Well, who is to say who is to put what on FB? Anyway, it helps keep friends connected, especially those who may not be in the same place/ country as you are. Then finally the guy says what he felt inside him all along; "I think I prefer Twitter. It is so much better". DUH! Whatever!

In that whole span of eavesdropping, I managed to finish a whole chunk of my work. I packed up and left, hoping to give my ears some peace.

Corrine May for NDP song 2010

2010-08-01T22:11:00.000+08:00

Only Corrine May has the ability to move and stir a person's heart with her voice and music, no matter what she sings. Kudos to Corrine May!!

Of friends and transport

2010-08-01T20:10:00.000+08:00

Last Friday, I met up with my Primary school friends, PK and Karen. We were supposed to go and try out this new place called Kichi Kichi at Takashimaya but we ended up at Seoul Garden instead. Why? Because we all forgot that it was a Friday and all of us forgot to make reservations!!

We had a good time at Seoul Garden though. I was happy to be eating BBQ stuff, together with soupy things as well. There was a lot to catch up on and we re-connected with one another.

It was quite funny though, before we met up. PK and I are the ones without a car and yet, when we suggested another restaurant (Ebisboshi Shogentai@ Iluma), Karen told us to change to a place whereby there was less ERP, etc, etc.

Seriously speaking, if you have the money to own a car, then why don't you have enough to pay for ERP?? Surely you must have factored that in when you decided to have one. Besides, I thought cars are supposed to give you more convenience as when compared to us public transport folks. I personally just find it a little absurd to have to compromise most of the time.

Well, we finally got it all ironed out and came to a compromise alright! Whatever it was, all's well that ends well.

Health-ier??

2010-07-27T00:33:00.000+08:00

Hmm...after proclaiming publicly to be health-ier, I ate something not as healthy as I would like it to be: Korean chicken meat on sticks with rice. I think they called it chicken bulgogi set meal.

It is grilled and all but the thing is, there are little chunks of chicken skin on the stick and that makes it a little too fatty for my liking. Hee, actually, if it were pork, I really do not mind it at all. The fat is more solid and does not feel so squishy like those of chicken. Plus the fat of the pork adds to the texture of the meat itself.

Today though (as in Monday, since I am blogging this past 12 midnight), I thought I was going for the healthier chicken choice. Well, what can I say, not much difference! Guess what? As I am typing this, I just realised that I ate chicken rice twice today! Once at work and then for dinner!! Not that chicken is my all-time favourite, but I just happened to make this choice of food tonight (Monday). Mind you, if I can help it, I will not touch chicken wings. There is a story behind it but I shall save it for another day.

Anyhow, it was a satisfying meal though and ahem, I added a jumbo korean sausage to go with my dinner. The only thing I can console myself with is that nothing was deep fried.

It is not a sin to be fat

2010-07-25T20:33:00.000+08:00

Yesterday, I was at NTUC Unity Pharmacy buying Johnson's Baby oil. I was actually on the look out for pure Vitamin C tablets (not those with zinc). The ones with zinc give me lots of gas, a sign of a weak digestive system. I was just looking around when the typical sales auntie walks up to ask me whether I needed help. I told her, "It's ok, I am just looking around."

A very standard reply but a reply nonetheless. It actually means "do not disturb me". Why is it that they do not get it at all??!!!! Ten, twenty over years and they still do not know how to treat a customer right. No wonder they seem to be killing flies more than making sales fly!

What happened next just made me seeth with anger. I mean, I have met with such situations a million times at least but every time, it never fails to make me boil. I just take it as a personal attack and very poor social etiquette. She asked me, " Do you want to take a look at some slimming products?"

How forthrightly insinuating can it get?? I was fuming and had wanted to put down the other products that I had chosen and was about to purchase, but I took three deep breaths and walked myself to the cashier. No point stooping down to that person's level. Well, at least she did not come outright to say that I have a very big tummy or that I had lots of blackheads, all of which happened during my whole lifespan.

I am not slim and far from skinny. However, I have lost quite a bit and am proud of who I am now. Although I am not at my ideal shape yet, I would like to be very positive about myself (which I am). I suppose that lady would not know all that information and she thought that she was giving me a big hand in suggesting that I go on diet.

I think I am a much smarter shopper than that. Slimming products can help momentarily but it does not last forever. One needs to exercise and change one's eating habits to healthier choices in order to maintain the figure.

For years now, these so-called promoters lack the tact and the very technique of capturing the heart of the customers. It's funny how pushy they are. Somebody should tell them to go learn some basic psychology or like I might have said somewhere before, go Taiwan. They have got superb customer service etiquette.

That said, I must tell you what I am doing now to change my eating habits. I am choosing more soupy stuff to eat, such as yong tau foo; ban mian; fish soup with bee hoon and so on. I also try to eat more greens and drink lots of water. Hee, as for the exercise bit, I must admit that I have been lagging a little, but at least I walk from my home to the MRT station. That is already a good 5-7 minutes. Plus changing MRT lines from the red line to the yellow line also requires some walking. Those are the minimal that I get right now. Will be factoring in more exercise regime soon.

Flash flood

2010-07-25T11:55:00.001+08:00

Remember me mentioning about the flash floods a few posts before? Here is an example of the wrath of the flash flood that happened recently in the Little Red Dot:

Box it up

2010-07-24T21:26:00.003+08:00

Usually, one sms, one call from the friend, I would put everything down and join the friend in whatever the friend has suggested we do. Today, I am tired. Physically and mentally tired.

The friend had asked to meet for lunch, but I actually turned the friend down. I woke up real early today to get to work by 7am and I needed to come home to take my cough medicine. You see, I was supposed to be on M.C for the last two days but I really did not care to stay home. There was a lack of staff and if I did take anymore M.Cs, I would be inviting unwanted gossip.

Was feeling a little down after that, not quite sure whether it was the medicine or my own feelings. Anyway, I just feel that I am slowly mentally sifting out the emotional lovey-dovey parts from the friendship parts and putting the former into a box to be stored away in one part of my memory forever. Until such a time that I need it, then I will bring it out again, on condition that it will not be painful to myself.

I am on my way to closure. I can almost hear the sad violin playing in the background, but I refuse to be sad and I refuse to mope. I will walk with a smile to embrace a new chapter in my life, slowly but surely. Things will be different. The friend will not know, but at least I know that I will be better, soon.

Car-less

2010-07-20T01:05:00.003+08:00

I am now not so sorry that my Dad had sold our family car away. With flash floods like those that are quite common just now in Singapore, I am glad we did not have to deal with soaking wet cars that had to be towed away and overhauled.

I think deep down, it still hurts me a little that we do not have a car now but I would like to have a noble way of thinking that we are doing our part in saving the earth.

In a way, we are creatures of habit and once I got used to walking to and from the bus interchange and taking alternative transport, it really did not matter much anymore.

Nosey business

2010-07-20T00:52:00.002+08:00

I have been having a bad case of post nasal drip cum infection for the last week or so. My left nose had been semi-permanently blocked. I have been roughing it out as I know that if I went to the Doc's, he would simply prescribe me with the same old antibiotics that would cure me for a while but then, I will be back to square one in no time.

Instead, I chose to queue up for an appointment to see the Chinese doctor (Traditional Chinese Medicine or TCM in short) instead. I really believe that it is time my immune system faced up to its challenge to fight all those infections. The price for all these ra-ra talk and thoughts? Whopping cough ever so often throughout the day. I am coughing so bad that my stomach hurts and I have to remember to remind myself to squeeze my kegel muscles so that I would not be peeing like a helpless baby. I sometimes have to rush to the toilet as my lung, nose, ears whatsoever are so filled with mucus that I had to throw it all up.

Sorry, grotesque I know but I somehow I feel that writing about it will make me heal faster. Haha!

How do I avoid embarrassment in public? I use the story book that I am reading to block my whole face while I coughed away. I know, I should use a mask. Now, where did I put it...?

Wish me luck, my appointment with the TCM doc is tomorrow evening. With much luck, I would heal soon and 'tune' my body till it's able to withstand all sorts.

P.S.

2010-07-18T23:46:00.002+08:00

The Night Festival posts will be up soon, just as soon as I get the energy to upload the photos. I am not very bright with technology/ geek stuff and blogging and going on the Net is about the only cool thing I am good at (not really). But anything geeky scars me and I approach it with much apprehension. Give me some time to upload and I can tell you about the fun things that went on that night.

Waxing (not so) lyrical

2010-07-18T23:17:00.004+08:00

Well, it has been a horrible weekend. I can say that my so-called love life is in the doldrums and will be headed for doom soon, just as soon as I am able to accept and create closure for myself. I need to move on. I don't mean to mope here, but I need to type it out in order to tell myself to execute it.

First step to healing my heart was to try the wax strips that I bought from the pharmacy. I once tried these in my Uni days and I suppose I did not know how to do it very well, either that or the product itself was not so good yet. I did not succeed in removing much hair and got my toilet all yucky after that. I stopped using those like, forever.

For the past two or three years, I have been going to "Strip, the Ministry of Wax" to have my fix of grooming. Looks like I would have to stop that soon too as my package is going to be used up soon and I do not intend to continue going to them. For one, I will need lots of Vitamin M and for seconds, they like to 'sell' you stuff: if it is not this cream, it will be IPL treatment, that treatment, something or other.

I do not blame them though. This is how the general environment of their industry works. Plus they earn commission like that. Only thing for a softy like me is to have to prep myself on how to say "No" every time before I go for a session. I could almost memorise and predict what they are going to ask and/or tell me.

It is even contradictory. One of them told me that because I wax, that I would get in-grown hair easily and that I should try IPL instead. Funny? Wasn't their business all about waxing? Why were they slapping their own 'faces'? I suppose this is what I had learned in my hotel course as "up-selling".

I also do not dare to request for a regular therapist for fear that if I stuck to one, I would get too emotional and attached and would be more inclined to say "yes" to any suggestions whatsoever for treatments that she gives. I am sorry, if you are a therapist and is reading this but I really would like to be more prudent in my spending, you know. Plus I am just like that. I judge whether I would go back to a hairdresser by how over chatty he or she is. If he or she tries to sell me everything under the sun in their shop, it would be the first and last time that I would go there.

Anyway, I tried the brand "Nair" and it turned out pretty good! All those trips to the waxing salon also taught me a thing or two about waxing myself. There was also a nice strawberry taste to it, which was yummy. There is also glitter on the wax, which made it all the more fun!

There, I think I will be able to manage on my own and be able to save tons of money from now. Plus, I do not need to make an appointment or wait for any particular day to go. I can do it in the comfort of my own home :)

p/s: I am not going to tell you which areas I wax, OK! Hahahaha!

Eavesdropping

2010-07-15T23:01:00.005+08:00

Nothing much happened today, except that I walked to SingPost centre to have my lunch as the cook cooked something that I used to like but now, am quite frankly sick of: it's fried ee fu noodles.

It was hot like hell on my way there and back and I felt like a barbecued turkey after that. I ate yong tau fu (my choice of food nowadays, as it is not too oily). What was interesting were the two guys sitting one seat away from me on a long table. I think one of them is a doctor for he could not stop talking about cancer, good cells, bad cells and so on. Really. Quite tasteless to be talking about illnesses and diseases when one is eating. Didn't their mums and dads teach them?

Every sentence had the word "cancer" in it and this doctor guy (I presume that he is) seems to want the whole world to hear what he was saying. He told his friend (whom I think is doing his Masters of sorts, as he mentioned about "finishing the thesis") that he should try "virgin coconut oil" or was it "extra virgin coconut oil". It was as if doctor guy was trying to create the next new buzz word and/or buzz product by word of mouth.

Frankly, I found it very tasteless and an uncool thing to do. Besides, just because the virgin olive oil is getting so much limelight, now all sorts of oils must be virgins?? Oh well, according to him, this extra virgin coconut oil is supposed to be good for the health (Ha!) I just say, everything in moderation.

OK, OK, so I was eavesdropping but they were not exactly very discreet with their conversation either. In actual fact, their voice volumes were bordering on rudeness and inconsideration. Well, the only excuse for them I can think of is that the food court was full of people and was rather noisy. Either that or one of them could be hard of hearing.

After lunch, I trotted off to my favourite de-stressing place: Popular Bookshop and bought myself some stationery necessities. As I exited the entrance of the building, I remembered seeing some handphone cases that I needed so badly. Mine was the faux leather casing type with a magnetic clasp that will flip open. The stuff in the casing that was supposed to hold my handphone has come to bits and was barely clinging on to my phone. My phone had slipped out of it's own casing and the casing had defeated its purpose in protecting my phone. Get it?

Long and short of it is that I needed to change the handphone cover. I had searched my whole neighbourhood, which is one of the most famous heartland neighbourhood shopping area in Singapore and yet, I could not find a case and/or one that was nice enough for me to want.

Today, I tried my luck. Like I said, I was exiting the building and stopped by at the store. After some queries from store owner and some recommendations later, I took an orangey-red 'condom' cover for my handphone. No more flips and flaps and no more bulky cases. This one just slips on nicely over the the phone and hugs it snugly. Sure, it does not protect the screen of the phone but then, I already have a protective sheet over it.

I'm a happy girl now! It's not as orange as I want it to be but I am still a happy girl nevertheless! :)

Hunger and lust

2010-07-13T21:07:00.002+08:00

Hmm! I know what you must be thinking when you see this title of my post. well, it is a little play on the words and you shall find out why shortly, like, right after reading this.

Today, I was really hungry as I was doing closing shift and swore myself into not buying any titbits. That way, I can watch my weight, a little. I finally decided to go to Olive Fusion at the food court of Raffles City (Level 3) after work. I think I mentioned in one of the posts that I had a crush on the Chinese chef. He has slit eyes like mine. :p

That was the "hunger" part of my story. Of course, to add lust to the "hunger" part, it would be that he added a little more spaghetti for me. No! Yes, he did! I saw him add that wee bit more as he was finishing up with the cooking of my dish. It made me feel special even though his intention may purely be due to the fact that I am such a regular. Somehow, I was conjuring up a lot of images in my mind :P

By the way, even though there are many choices on the menu, I somehow always end up with spaghetti pesto. There are more than one Olive Fusion outlets in food courts and I first started out with the Bugis outlet. Seriously though, I prefer the Raffles City one as he cooks to my liking. The pesto is not too wet and oily, just coating the pasta and giving it a fragrant, nutty and herb-y taste. The Bugis chef however, makes it too wet and soggy and there was once, he put so much garlic and did not cook it too well that I was tearing throughout my meal!! I was a walking garlic bomb after that.

This Raffles City chef though, does everything perfectly. Plus point of course, is that I like watching him cook. Sigh...what is with me and chefs? Is it because of their chef's uniform (as opposed to policemen in their uniforms)?

No, actually the object of my lust is not the man/chef. It was a pair of Clarks Sports shoes, several to be exact. I am planning for my trip to the Netherlands, right? While I have a pair of beautiful Doc Marts' mary janes, I am just worried that the weight of the shoe itself would give me sore feet for the whole of my journey. The other thing is that I would have to find suitable socks to go with it. Most of my socks collections are ankle high ones (or does one call it sockettes?). I would really have to look into how I can save on this area.

I kept finding one beautiful shoe after another and I kept trying them on to see how it would look on my small little feet, how comfortable it would feel and whether I was able to walk long distances in them. The touch of the leather and the comfort of the insoles, they were enough to make me erm...high. Hee! But of course, I needed to control myself. I have promised myself not to buy any clothings, shoes whatsoever and it's mid-month and I have bought nothing! I shall have to keep to that promise.

Mondays

2010-07-12T22:33:00.002+08:00

Today, like any other Monday, was a rather sucky, tiring day. It was my turn to do the opening shift again. It is the day that nobody really wants to do the opening shift, least of all, me. I have to sleep earlier on Sunday just to ensure that I wake up on time to catch the 6.20am train to work. Being a night owl, that did not suit me at all.

I often ended up having to take a cab to work, but I have learned that taking cabs is an expensive affair and so, the only way to solve the problem is to wake up earlier! It is painful. I have tried leaving my table lamp on, keeping my radio on and lifting up my curtains a little more just so that the brightness from the sky would wake me up faster, but all of no use as I still often oversleep and have to end up rushing.

The only consolation is that I have a few hours to unwind before I get to my night classes. Today, armed with my fresh supply of books from yesterday, I ate a sandwich with fries from this Bratwurst Shop at Plaza Singapura (yes, there again coz I wanted to print out photos instantly and that was the only place I could think of where there was one). Of course I know of other places but it would be too far for me to go before my lessons.

Anyhow, it was a grumpy, coughy Monday, but I shall not complain. The less negativity, the better.

Orange

2010-07-11T21:33:00.004+08:00

Some may think I am faddish by supporting the Dutch in this World Cup. Doesn't mean I have friend who has gone to stay in the Netherlands that I should support blindly, right? Wrong.

OK, so what if I did choose the Dutch team because my friend kept posting up fantastic pictures of everyone wearing orange? So what if I chose to support this team mainly because their team is called Oranje (Orange) and wears orange and wreaks orange? I simply love the colour orange.

Matter of the fact is, they already managed to prove themselves by playing their way to the finals. That in itself is reason enough for me to support them. Anyway, I always preferred to support the underdogs. I was going to tell you an example of a boy band that I used to like, but that would then reveal my age and/or the era that I come from. Therefore I shall refrain from doing so.

Whether or not the Dutch will when tomorrow, I will still be wearing my orange dress from Uniqlo and bring my orange stockings to change into after work (also from Uniqlo) to show my support. Hahaha! For in the end, even if they do not come in first, they are still runner-up, silver medalists, all!

p/s: did you notice the clock on my blog? I did not choose an intersection of an orange without much reasoning :)

Correction (hopefully the last) and updates

2010-07-11T16:04:00.002+08:00

Don't need to wait for Monday to unravel the mystery about Sunny Bookshop. Indeed, I was right the first time round. They are NO LONGER at Far East Plaza.

I could not wait till tomorrow to get fresh supplies of story books and thought I would go to EMF (another secondhand bookshop) at Plaza Singapura. When I reached the 6th floor, surprise, surprise!!! I see those big familiar words with that screw driver on the letter "S": Sunny Bookshop. EMF is gone, for good!

I plunged into the sea of books and started looking and searching. It is still quite messy, not the sort of organisation I am used to while working in the library, but this would suffice as I satisfied my hunger for books and pleasurable reading.

Halfway through searching, a local celebrity of the theatrical kind even popped by to look for a certain book! It was Karen Tan and I do so admire her works as an actor with the theatre. She could not find what she wanted but thanked the staff and told her not to worry if she could not find the book, as she simply just loves the feel of a secondhand bookshop. How nice, so do I!

At first, I only took 3 books but the girl told me that if I took one more, my loan period would be extended to two and a half months per book! What a bonus! Finally, not one to miss out on such great opportunity, I lugged 4 books around town with me.

The old shop was indeed on Level 3 (so my memory did not fail me)and the present shop at Plaza Singapura, Level 6 is the only store they have, i.e. they have shifted there permanently. Bliss for me still, as it is still not too far away from home.

The Night Festival

2010-07-11T09:54:00.005+08:00

The Night Festival is coming again. This coming weekend to be exact. Without making much effort, I have unknowingly gone for this festival every year. Every year too, I have gone on the festival with the friend.

However, this year, I may want to do it alone for a change. Sometimes I feel that going to the museum requires a lot of patience. Not that I have much but I think I have a little bit more than the friend.

Besides, this year, I may want to stay till the end of the show, past midnight. Should be quite spectacular. It is true, I may not have anyone to share the whole experience with, but then again, I have never experienced going to the festival alone! Hee, we'll see how it goes.

Plans and virtual food become reality

2010-07-11T01:52:00.005+08:00

Saturday had been one hell of a day. From the word go, there was no stopping. I had to go back to work to help out with an event and afterwards, I met up with my friend to discuss our trip to the Netherlands/ Europe.

I did not realise that the booking of a hotel could be stressful. We actually spent a whole afternoon doing bookings for just 2 places and then, we still had to settle our Eurail pass. By then, I was all google-eyed and had to shout, "Stop!"

Actually, amidst all this excitement, I am also a bit worried as my practicum for my course may be delayed and it may not end exactly in September itself. I am taking a little gamble though and praying very hard that my practicum supervisor will allow me to choose a favourable day before I go off.

By the time we finished everything, it was almost 8 o'clock. Way too late for dinner. As my friend and I were Cafe World fans, we decided to go to Marche at 313@Orchard to eat real food that we usually simply just cook in the virtual world of Cafe World!

Hehe...we had seafood paella and pizza. I almost wanted to get spaghetti bolognaise but had to stop myself. We ate a slow dinner, chatting and laughing as we went along. The food was yum!! Hmm...this game, I better beware of it. If I am not careful, I will be putting on lots of weight by wanting to turn what is virtual into a reality!

Correction, correction

2010-07-11T01:40:00.002+08:00

Sigh...I am so blur. Age must be catching up with me. A quick check with my friend today confirmed that Sunny Bookshop (as mentioned in my previous posting) is still 'alive and well' and so I was wrong in saying that it no longer exists.

Strange then, that I did not see the name on the directory listing of the shopping centre (still scratching my head figuratively). I must go find out myself this coming Monday.

My friend told me that it is actually on Level 2 of Far East. Now why did keep thinking that it was Level 3? The most amazing part is that I vaguely remember myself getting 'lost' the same way when I was a lot younger. I kept thinking that it was at Level 3. Oh wait, I am confused. I thought the escalator from the bus stop did bring me straight to Level 2 (and not 3).

Anyhow, do wait for my update on Monday when I am able to sort myself out. Not before going to exchange for more books to read though :)

Closure

2010-07-10T01:40:00.005+08:00

Met up with an 'old' friend from Uni days yesterday (Friday). We were for some parts of our lives, 'detached' from each other as she set up her own family and had a successful career. Things have changed a bit but we got connected again through Facebook.

There was another friend, Let's call her "friend A", whom we were very close to but till now, I still refused to accept in Facebook. Maybe it is because I could see what sort of person she is and remembered the not-so-nice things that she did to me during Uni days or maybe, part of me just did not want to tell her that I am a divorcee. That would be admitting that she is better off than me...in a certain way. Don't get me wrong though. It is not that I dislike this status but with friends who like to compare, I just wished to keep a safe distance. I would rather not go there.

Anyway, this 'old' friend that I met up, told me that Friend A had news for me that this person that I used to be seeing during my Uni days, has died. He died quite some years back now.

I was not surprised. I already kind of knew that he was no longer in this world but someone telling me in my face became a formal closure for me. I told my 'old' friend that I was OK and that I was not affected (much), but that night when I came home, I did not really sleep well. No, I did not cry. I think I was past that for this one was a relationship that was never going to work out and I have let go a long time ago. It was just that from time to time, I used to wonder where he was and what he was doing and whether or not I could find him on Facebook.

That night, I reminisced about us back in those days. Those were bittersweet memories that will now have to be packed neatly and kept in a box somewhere, to be stored inside a corner of my heart.

Rest in peace, Y.S.C.

Bookworm

2010-07-08T23:27:00.003+08:00

Just this Monday, I was off work early, doing the opening shift and all. I had just finished one storybook which I had bought from Books Kinokuniya quite some time back and was craving for another.Reading was another way of keeping myself busy and off the shopping malls. It was an economical yet good old fashion way to pass time, without being too useless at all.

I am a slow reader and borrowing books from public libraries never really did work for me. I would be too stressed up about the due date to be able to enjoy the book completely and in the end, I would still be late in returning them anyway.

My bus takes me through Orchard Road and the nearest bookshop I could think of was Prologue at ION@Orchard. Then I had a better idea! Recently, I had thought I saw Sunny Bookshop still in business at Far East Plaza and I quickly rang the bell and hopped off. Sunny is a second-hand bookshop that was tres popular during my school days. You bought a book at one price and if you returned it on time, you would get back a certain amount which was lower than that of what you paid for. The difference was that the due date was like a month or so and that did not sound so bad to me. I know, strange isn't it? 3 weeks is not OK but 4 weeks is fine. Maybe it has got to do with the fact that if I did not return a book from a second-hand book store in time, I could still keep it for myself.

I was wrong about Sunny though, for it was no longer there. Luckily, there were two other second-hand bookstores for me to peer into and the first one did not look at all appealing. The collection was in a bit of a mess and there did not seem to be much selection and variety to begin with. I decided to consult the directory and found ANA Book Store on Level 5.

The arrangement of the collections were still quite messy but at least this fella had the popular authors and books displayed upfront, which was so much easier. I did not have too much cash with me at that time though and was too lazy to go all the way back down to the basement to get money. I was also running a little short of time and there was still dinner to settle.

I think sometimes with books, it is also fate. I picked out this unassuming book called Hunting and Gathering by Anna Gavalda. Amazingly, this was a French translated book and little did I realise that it was filmed into a French movie, Ensemble, c'est tout and was acted by Audrey Tautou! I am quite sure that I have seen the film title before as it was one of those French Film Festival screenings.

Well, it felt like I was back in my Uni days where I went to bookshops, picked up books and trotted off to cafes along the cappucino strip in Fremantle. Except that now, I stay in the comfort of my own room until the wee hours of one, two o'clock in the morning and devour the book some more during my lunch break.

This book was that good! I paid $9 for it and will get back $6 when I return it. Technically speaking, the book just cost me $3, but everyone (including the shop owner) knows that one does not stop there. Once you are hooked on it, you would go back for more and the $6 will be rolled over to your next purchase of books, which is just as well in my opinion. After all, one still has to read anyway.

By the way, I really liked how the owner told me after he had given me change, "Now you can feed your mind with knowledge" or was it "Now you can feed your mind with all that reading". Anyhow, I was in a hurry but I was really happy.

On the way, I saw Wasabi Tei serving its first customers. Made a mental note to self that this could be another Monday early dinner place in future. For usually, there would be a long queue for this place. Once it's bar tables are filled up (and there are only bar-table-styled seating, one would have to obediently queue up for like...forever (when one is very hungry).

p/s: Right now, my mind is all messed up with all that emotional shit after reading the book. The author really knows how to bring one right up to the roller coaster and come down with a big bang. Will probably do a book review of sorts later when I get my emo self sorted out.

Aaarrrh!!

2010-07-08T00:13:00.004+08:00

Today (as in Wednesday, 7 July), I was really bitchy. I was rushing to go for night classes as it was going to start half an hour earlier. We were going to get instructions about our practicums and such. Did not want to miss a thing.

I stopped by at Kopi Tiam @ Plaza by the Park and thought it would be healthiest to eat yong tau foo. There were these three persons in front of me: two ladies and one man. The man took longer to decide what to have and I beat him to the queue to get my food done first.

After cooking the second bowl for the ladies, he told the cook to calculate all three bowls of yong tau foo together. I do not know but I felt that since my bowl was at the counter top before the man, that the cook should ask for my opinion on whether I minded to let him go first or not (since they were in one group). Instead, she just told me in Mandarin, "You wait, ah."

That made me boil. Not really but because I was in a hurry. Therefore, instead of taking it sitting down, I simply told her back calmly in smooth Mandarin that I did not want to buy her food anymore. I think the four words "I don't want already" are very powerful consumer tools. In fact, in my opinion, the most powerful. After all, the money is in my hands. I have a choice. All I heard her say was, "Huh??" as I rushed to get other stuff for dinner.

I chose not to wait and went to the nearest, fastest stall, which happened to be the duck rice stall. The duck meat was chopped up in a minute and the whole transaction took less than 3 minutes. I paid, took the packet of rice and took flight. I was going to be at least 4 minutes late, all no thanks to yong tau foo auntie.

By the way, I think that man was also very ungentlemanly. He saw me looking at my watch a few times already and I WAS indeed before him in terms of finalising my choices of yong tau foo pieces. I do not see any reason why I should not go first.

Anyhow, I only just made it in time as they started 5 minutes late to accommodate for people like me :(

Very Korean

2010-07-06T23:35:00.002+08:00

Crying is no good for the eyes. They felt like goldfish's eyeballs today, but I managed the day though. Had a refreshing albeit sunburn-ish kind of walk to Singpost Centre during lunch break. It is amazing what walking can do for the mind, except that I wished that it wasn't so hot.

Had Korean food for lunch today. It was BBQ pork set. Then coincidentally in the evening, Mum bought me Korean grilled saba fish set. Because I was rushing to see the Chinese doc, who is ever so busy and popular, Mum had bought me take-away (how sweet!). The very coincidental part was that she took out the set of environmental-friendly chopsticks and spoon set that I bought from Lotte World in Korea. Suddenly, I felt very Korean and I was half giggling to myself as I ate dinner at the Pek Kio Hawker Centre, which was sparsely populated with the dinner crowd thinning out already.

The wait at the Chinese doc's was not so bad and Mum and I went home on one of those rare occasions that she would accompany me out. Bliss! Kept giving her secret smiles and she pretended to glare back at me. Hee!

Let it all out, learning to let go

2010-07-06T08:43:00.002+08:00

Last night, for the first time after so many years, I bawled over the state of things of my so-called love life. It is zilch and I feel like such a failure and it all stemmed from a simple message.

Not that the message was clear or definite. It is still vague with only a suggestion of what is to become of our 'relationship' (if you can even call it that). The message was sent last weekend but it took me that long to process (and I am still trying to figure it out).

Maybe it is the final acceptance and realisation that it is going nowhere; maybe I finally admitted that I am just not lucky in love; maybe I can see that I am just no good with any sort of relationship (friendship, courtship, whatsoever).

Anyway, life must move on. We are still friends but I must learn to let go. If not, there is only one way to do it and that is to ask him, which I am too much of a coward to do so (thought of autistic child pressing ears shut and shaking head vehemently from left to right when s/he cannot accept something comes to mind). Maybe after my all-important course. Cannot afford to divert my attention now.

The other way is to try and make new friends which I am still convincing myself to teach myself to do so. I have become a sort of recluse, a sort regression seems to have taken place and kind of lost some skills about socialising (just like how an autistic child does not know how to communicate). Sigh, I should stop being so negative and doing comparisons with people with autism. No offense, I think I have said it before, but here again, I feel that I was sometimes born with mild autism but veering on the Asperger syndrome side.

I am still positive as I have other things to think about at the moment. I shall leave so-called love life aside and concentrate instead, on the love for my family and friends.

My resolution for this month

2010-07-04T22:58:00.002+08:00

My resolution for this month is to not buy any clothes and/or shoes. Hopefully I can resist the temptation, especially from Uniqlo. I shall try to walk into shops less and stay at home more. I need to get used to owning what I have and not be too greedy.

First day back at work

2010-07-01T00:15:00.003+08:00

Hmm...it was not exactly a smooth start to the day on my first day back at work. The gossip mongers were trying to see how many pox and scars I had, probably so that they could discuss about the 'seriousness' of it later, out of my ear shot.

Luckily I had purposely left some scars for them to see. I also had to explain that most of the pox came out on my back and my scalp, not so much on my body. You could almost see their I-want-to-believe-you face.

Plus, there was that contradictory discussion I had with my working partner as to whether or not to take medicine to stop the growth of the pox. As said in earlier postings, I actually do not advocate suppressing or even stopping the pox (through immunisation).

However, when one is sick and does not know what else to do, and when the doctor tells you that there may sometimes be complications like meningitis and/or pneumonia, and that the pox can even grow on your eyes, one better take the doc's advice and take pills or whatever.

I called it a contradictory discussion because I heard from another colleague that she (my working partner) was not too happy when she realised that I went on medical leave. Instead, today, she was advising me that I should have let all the pox out and just kept drinking cooling stuff for the system and not taken the anti-viral pills. Now, as I am typing this, I am just also wondering whether there was a pinch of sarcasm in what she said. Yes, I know. I am a little slow like that. Make that very slow, which is why I think I may never survive the corporate world. Ha!

I mean, it is one thing to give good advice, but it kind of shows your 'sincerity' as well when you jolly well know that if I let it all come out, that I will take at least 2 weeks of medical leave. Is that what she really wanted?? I doubt.

Anyhow, I gave it my all during the day, doing what I had to do as a team member. I think most times, I am doing the shit work. That said though, I am enjoying doing it because I love it and I have not much complaints about it.

Last but not least, I just want to say that NOBODY WANTS TO FALL SICK and when one is sick, one may sometimes not be able to make or receive phone calls. This is something strong and healthy people may never understand. Or maybe their time to fall very sick has not come yet. when it comes, they may fare worse than me.

Subconsciously...

2010-06-29T15:47:00.006+08:00

My cousin had his wedding reception last Sunday. I was really looking forward to it, or so I thought I was. Maybe subconsciously, I did not want to go.

You see, this is my cousin's second wedding. His first one didn't work out. As much as I had wanted to be there to celebrate with him and his new wife, I could not. One very obvious reason is of course due to my chicken pox. The other was that I did not want awkward looks and conversations from relatives.

When my second uncle's daughter got married, they were so secretive about it and they used me as an excuse of not telling everyone. They said that they did not want to hurt my feelings. Ha!! What utter bullshit! If you don't want to tell then don't tell. Don't use me as a lousy excuse. I am happily divorced and there is no reason for me to be unhappy, unless of course they were afraid that I would jinx up their daughter's marriage.

Well, in a way, I was glad that I was not there last Sunday at my third uncle's son's wedding. Then nobody can say that I had anything to do with anything if anything happens. I was very honoured though, coz my cousin actually asked me to be receptionist. Hahaha! This is the sort of thing I liked to do. I did that for my other cousin's wedding and it was fun being the PR person.

Well, most of my cousins are all getting married now and I am happy for all of them, coz I cannot wait to be auntie to all those cute nieces and nephews! As for me, I will continue my journey in looking for a partner. No, not for marriage, but for companionship. I need to start widening my circle of friends from now.

Anyhow, I had to decline the invitation to be receptionist and I stayed at home, like any other good patient.

Need to cool that seething madness

2010-06-29T15:23:00.003+08:00

I was seething mad. In fact, in a way, I am still seething. Spurts of smoke (imaginary, of course) can still be seen spurting out of my ears occasionally.

I called up my boss to inform her about my extension of medical leave and guess what she told me? She said that if I did not have the word "Chicken pox" on my medical certificate (MC), then only one day of official MC will be counted.

I was so stunned at that point of time, I did not know what say. Not only was she insinuating that I was lying to her, but she was also (directly or indirectly) insulting and questioning the integrity of the doctor.

As I put down the phone, the fact of the matter slowly sank in. I almost wanted to immediately blog it down but I thought I would cool down first. But I can't cool down. I do not care whether it was HR's policies or what but it was really RUDE!

The funny thing was that just a day before, one other colleague had gotten an MC for 2 days. She looked fine the day before but because she went to the polyclinic, she got the official 2 days. On the third day that she was supposed to come back to work, she had already earlier applied for leave to shift house. I am not going to say anything here but I would let you, my readers, be a little bit of Sherlock Holmes and go figure out why I am so mad.

Therefore, is it right to say that if I go and waste my time, wait at the polyclinic, then I will get my official MC for sure?? Or is it that all private doctors are quacks??? Because that is the message that she is sending me. RIDICULOUS!!

Plus the fact is, I DO have chicken pox!!! I have scars to prove it, even though it is not many simply because I was given the anti-viral pills to stop the spreading. You know, just because of some minorities who abuse the system, we people, who do not want to fall sick at all are always the victim. Maybe we are too obedient. If we talked back, then maybe, there would be some sort of reaction. Then again, we are in a very Asian society and I find that most companies and organisations work in very Asian mindsets. Talking back is a big no-no. It is almost like death sentence.

I mean who likes to pay money to the doctor every month??? Who likes to wait there for hours just to see the doctor??? Seriously, sometimes I wish Asian bosses were more empathising towards their employees, but I think that would take us 10 decades to reach that level of empathy. There is no magic; changing cultures take that long, if they ever succeed, that is.

Anyway, I went to the doc's and it showed on his face that he felt that this was all a joke too. He commented, "An MC is an MC" and smiled. The doc's word IS the law in the medical world. Well, in normal everyday life, GP terms, at least.

Pox!

2010-06-23T17:42:00.004+08:00

I cannot believe it! I caught the chicken pox!!!! There were 5 rounds of it at my work place and I thought I would be safe from it but in the end, I still got it!!! It started on Monday afternoon. There were all that flu-like symptoms of backache and post-nasal drip and so I thought I was coming down with flu.

I went home, ate my dinner and was bathing when I felt the shivers. My feet were very cold and I wished that I could stay in the shower forever. I was too cold. I stayed as long as I could in the shower as I could and braced myself for when I needed to get myself out and put on clothes. It was the coldest few seconds in my entire life.

Huddling myself in my towel, I grabbed a pair of socks, opened the window threw the towel back onto the rack and went straight to bed without even turning on the air-conditioning. Oh, of course, I ate Zyrtec before going to bed.

Next morning, I almost could not get out of the bed and out of the house. Took a cab to work. Too painful to walk. Mum had asked me why I did not want to go and see the doc and take M.C. Told her I could not as I was doing the closing shift. Don't want to mess up everybody's schedule.

Come afternoon, my temperature was 37.5 degrees. Asked my colleague for panadol and popped 2. At the same time, my other colleague spotted spots on my face and immediately asked if they were chicken pox. There was one obvious pimply spot on my lip and a few others on the sides of my face. That was on my right side.

By four plus, two more spots had appeared on my left chin. Eeeekssss!!! I had wanted to wait till the next day to go and see a doctor, but mum told me to just go as it made no difference. It did make a difference though for I though the spots were not typical enough to be called chicken pox.

We went to the doc's anyway. I was treated as a pox patient and have to stay at home for the next 5 days. I was given some anti-viral medicine as he was afraid that there might be completion when I get it so 'young'. There could be meningitis or even pneumonia. It was not cheap though but it was necessary.

When I went home and took my bath, found one more spot on my right boob. Hahahaha!!! This morning, lots have sprouted on my scalp and I have accidentally scratched on in my half sleep-stupor.

Anyway, I am keeping my fingers crossed that I will not get too many spots and that there will not be any scars. Sigh...there goes my cousin's wedding reception this Sunday.

Hairy business

2010-06-20T21:08:00.003+08:00

Went to cut my hair today. Sigh...so much contemplation for just one hair cut. Really though, I am after all, spoiled for choice here. There are just so many around my 'hood that I can close my eyes and just point. Only thing is that I do not know which one is exactly good and which is bad.

Some are dirt cheap and have a long queue but really not so sure whether cheap is not always bad. One day, I vow to stand outside and wait for someone to come out from their haircut and judge for myself whether it is good or not.

Today's cut was done at Kimage. Not bad, but on the safe side. Still good though :) Would be going back for treatments and colouring though, for I think their prices are reasonable and I have gotten their discount card now. Would also go back if I feel really lazy and don't want to go too far away.

Happy Saturday

2010-06-19T23:37:00.003+08:00

Woah! It was a tiring but happy day today. I met up with two of my ex-colleagues and we did a lot of catch up! We spoke of the good old days and for a moment there, it was like I had never left the company. There were times though, when I felt a little left out.

Nevertheless, I enjoyed their company very much. We ate at Sushi Tei at Tampines 1 and then proceeded to eat desserts at Bakerzin. We sat at Bakerzin for like forever. They made me feel connected and yet, disconnected. There is, from one point in our lives, where our paths seperated. The gap that has developed, can never be filled up again. What we can only do now is to build new paths (different ones) that is unlike any other from before; that of friends.

After the very long chit chat, one of them took the MRT back with me. She alighted at one of the stops and lamented that we used to drop off at this very stop with her and we would take bus back to our homes. We used to stay very near each other. Now, she goes off the train on her own, while I continue my journey much farther than before.

I miss the East still. Which was why I requested that we meet at Tampines anyway. The only thing I forgot was how crowded Tampines could get and how very rough the people living there could be! This man was walking towards me and my arm was lifted and folded (as if reaching to scratch my back) and he rammed right into my arm. He purposely did it though because I was very sure that he saw me going his way. It was already very narrow and yet, he purposely rammed into my arm (his waist was up to my arm, that was how huge he was). It happened near Body Shop, near the entrance of Tampines Mall.

Then, as we were approaching the traffic lights that we had to cross to take the MRT, another lady bumped into my friend. The bump was not a light one but...it was more like I-want-to-ram-you-so-that-you-can-get-out-of-my-way sort of bump. I made this comment that people who live on the East side are so rude! Of course, I admitted that I was also an East-sider but I think I have blogged about this before and said that the people from around where I live are much more civilised!

Well, well, I guess I should not generalise too much, lest I get beaten up! Anyway, I ended up eating bread from Bread Society as I was too full to eat anything else! Ahem! If you click on the link and scroll to "Signature-back to basics perennials", you will see my favourite "Spinach and Cheese". Crispy with cheese on the outside, moist and soft on the inside. Oh! Don't forget to check out the cute head chef too!

On the other hand...

2010-06-18T23:39:00.003+08:00

...after all the hype at work, there is after all, my down side. I have been feeling very needy. Actually, I felt this for quite a while already and it is my one weakest point (I think) I am so needy that I nag too much to my friends and probably bore them to death and scare them away.

I am probably doing the same thing in this blog. For this blog though, I do not really care, since I want to write what I want to write. But I think I need to learn when to shut up when enough is enough.

Tomorrow is another working day and it will be for the next few Saturdays. I just pray to the good Lord that I will be able to pull through till my course practicum is over. Then it's off to the Netherlands! Woohoo!!!

Cornflakes Crispies for our Daddies

2010-06-18T23:33:00.005+08:00

It had been a good week at work. For those of you who know me, you know what I do. For those of you who don't, you would just have to keep guessing, or you might have already guessed from bits and pieces on my blog.

We made cornflakes crispies two days ago and all of them could not wait to taste it. It was the first time we all made it and we were all anxious and excited at the same time. While we all had fun mixing all the ingredients together, I did most of the scooping of the crispies into the cupcake cups. Oh! I had fun sprinkling the hundreds and thousands too! :)

'Baking' it was a little tricky though for we only had a toaster oven to work with. The first batch got quite burnt and my colleague had to watch the over the oven after that. It was really nice though for after that, we put them into nice little packages to bring them home, to our Daddies!! It's after all going to be Father's Day this weekend! Oh! We made simple cards to go along with it too!

If I had a toy boy...

2010-06-15T23:13:00.003+08:00

If I had a toy boy, what sort of toy boy would it be?
Would he be a mascular man with long hair like Fabio?
Or would he look like a geek?
Or could he be a cross of both? Thinking about it just makes me laugh in glee.
The idea just tickles me.
Whatever it may be,
I'll just wait and see.
Maybe I will be really frisky and get a type in all three!

Funny

2010-06-15T23:04:00.003+08:00

Such an interesting thing happened: My Dad wants to plan a trip to Hokkaido (free and easy) and was trying to find travel companions. He had waited very long for his friends to come along but none were very interested.

Now, one of his former radio listeners who could speak Japanese would like to go but I rejected it flat out. Why? Because the listener is a "she". Hehehe...you would think that it would be the parents who would be the 'goal keeper' at such things but my immediate reaction was, "No way! Tell her that your daughter does not allow it."

I should trust the old foggies on this but somehow, I am really protective of my mum. Strange thing though was that my mum was OK with it. I guess she is more trusting of my Dad than me!

Anyway, my Dad is trying to get my aunts to go along so that they can share the room with the lady listener. We will see how it goes.

What a leisurely day!

2010-06-13T23:37:00.004+08:00

Went out with the girls today (you know who you are) and we had a girlie, smashing time! While one of them got THE shoes that she wanted for her wedding dinner, the other two of us got our satisfaction from buying intimates at La Senza. Well, actually I had wanted to hold back on the spending, but the offer was too good to give up on. Usually, La Senza's offer is 2 bras for $60 but now, because of the Great Singapore Sale (GSS), it is 3 for $60! Plus, as a member, I get an extra 10% discount!

As usual, I was fussy about customer service and I apologise to the girls for having to withstand my nonsense. I really should start a blog on customer service but I also do not want to sound like a grouch all the time. We'll see.

We ate gelato at Gusttimo di Roma and that in itself was another customer service story. The ice cream was good though albeit a little melted. Nice ambience though. Good for little chit chats and some peace and quiet.

Dinner was at Paragon's Big O and the spit roasted stuff was yummilicious!!! It reminded me so much of Cafe World, except that I was eating the real thing!!! Hahaha!

A change in most aspects

2010-06-12T18:37:00.002+08:00

After changing to my present job, there was a vast change in my income. I received much less than before but I was still not very good with my finances until recently whereby I had to force myself to learn how to cut costs and live within my means. After all, I AM going to Europe and I need to save up!

I think I was a big snob before, or maybe I was just plagued with bad experiences. I never really did believe in pharmacy-bought beauty products. Perhaps the ones that I bought before gave me bad results like either skin that was too dry or skin that was too oily that it gave me milia seeds.

Last week though, I decided to try out stuff from the pharmacy and bought a bottle of Neutrogena face wash. Turned out pretty good! Washes quite well and so far (and most importantly), no skin irritation yet.

The funniest bit was that it is actually made in Korea! Here I was paying $30 over for something Korean (Laneige) when I can get one that pays at about one third less! Well, still keeping my fingers crossed. My skin is actually quite sensitive so I hope this will last as long as it does so that I do not need to spend so much money on skin products :)

The higher one's ancticipation, the greater one's disappointment

2010-06-12T00:55:00.005+08:00

It's so funny that I have this same crush on this same guy for donkey years, even though I have told myself to stop it.

Anyhow, I am too much of a coward to tell him in the face that I like him or that I want to do him. Hahahahaha!!!

It's funny that I also started getting really excited when we were supposed to meet tonight. What I thought was going to be an interesting and exciting night, turned out to be a night that I did not really want to be there for. He was telling me about his so-called relationships, treating me like his pal, his confidante. Sigh... . My happiness plummeted to the doldrums. It was almost painful, except that I do not really feel anymore pain as it has become numb (my feelings, that is).

He had promised to spend the whole weekend (as if!) with me and it did sound like it would be a long night out chatting, watching movies and such when we spoke last, but it was not like that. The evening ended rather abruptly and quite early, so much so that I was starting to get depressed. Shoots! He was the one who was depressed! I guess it rubbed off me.

Haha...he asked me whether I was headed for home and I told him point blank that I was going to HMV at 313@Somerset. You could see the surprise on his face. He asked me what I was going to do there. I just told him that I would window shop. That's what I do when I am depressed (more surprised look on his face and of course, I did not actually tell him I feel depressed).

Well, I did end up at HMV but NOT before going into Forever 21 to try some clothes. Depression is a dangerous thing; it makes you want to spend. A lot. If not for my limited resources, I would have gone bongkus buying loads and tonnes already.

HMV seems to set the mood for singles who have nowhere to go. There were a few single persons (usually men) roaming around, looking at C.D.s, but I suspect, their attention is more towards the lady customers in the house. One man in particular, was going around in circles with me. If not for the fact that he did not cover his mouth while coughing, I might even have befriended him. Haha! Funny.

The CD that I finally chose was Mika's Second album, The boy who knew too much. I had already bought his first album for I loved his songs like Grace Kelly and Big Girls (you are beautiful). I had stopped listening to it for awhile as I thought his second album was not to my liking. This time around though, it sounded pleasing to my ear. Hehe...guess I am a little fickle.

The journey back home by MRT was a short one, but it really did feel exceptionally lonely. I was just taking in all that loneliness and absorbing it all. It was kind of nice; kind of bittersweet; kind of beautifully sad. I chose to walk home using the route that I would not normally choose: the more dangerous path I call it, but actually not. During the day, many people use that path to get to the industrial area near my place. Even at night, there are still a few work-laters who use that route. I have grown to love it. It is where I get the frogs' symphony on a rainy day :)

Tonight, I did not care and I finally remembered to slow my steps down. Nowadays, without a car, I seem to rush from place to place as my legs never seem to be long enough. Ever. I paced myself a little and was in a contemplating mode. Except, I was contemplating nothing in particular. I was just in that funny space of melancholy. The air felt like a sad state too. Maybe I am too piteous upon myself but sometimes, once in awhile, it actually feels good to feel like that. Why should one suppress how one feels?

Life goes on. I am still in search of my toy boy, as advised by some of my friends (especially when I go to Europe). This in itself, has become a big joke to me! Then again, who knows?

p/s: When I say depressed, it is more a figure of speech sort of thing. Not that I really feel so at the moment. If the so-called depression becomes so bad that I need medical attention (which is like, never), I will let you, my readers know.

Spending time with Primary school friends today

2010-06-06T20:50:00.002+08:00

One of my friends had come back from India with her 3 kids. Every time I see her, she seem to add another kid,and another, and another... . No, I am just kidding. Her kids are adorable.

So there we were, Cadence, Amy, Amy's sister and I. We were at Marche, 313@Somerset. Heehee! Yes, second day in a row that I am there, but IT IS a convenient place for all and there was a play area for the children. Oh yes, there were the kids too! Amy's sister brought her 3 girls, while Amy brough her 3 kids with her as well. All in all, it was a big party!

We spent lots of time playing catch up as we chatted about what we are going through now and there seems to be never-ending stories to tell: from the heat in India, to playing Wii at home and Cafe World on Facebook.

I introduced Amy to Uniqlo and we bought some stuff from there too. If one could become a stakeholder by buying from that particular shop every month, I would definitely have qualified for Uniqlo. Haha! It is so my style now as I do not need to be so formal in my dressing. I am their tights and leggings fan and their clothes can pass off as smart casual when paired properly. Sigh...now I hope to visit the Uniqlo in France. Can't wait! Euros is dropping like mad too!! Hahaha!

As for pictures of the kids and the times that we spent together this afternoon, I will seek permission first before uploading it here.

Spending time with friends on a Saturday evening

2010-06-06T20:09:00.003+08:00

I have been doing a lot of catching up this weekend, and I have been going to 313@Somerset. A lot.

Yesterday, I was there. I met up with Spacecakes and Wild Swans to have dinner. We went to this Chinese Restaurant called Paradise Inn. Nice food, horrendous customer service and because of such bad customer service, it caused the food to turn cold and therefore, was not as satisfactory as expected. The only saving grace (to me) was the soup. We ordered a fish soup that was so deliciously yummy and rich in the fish oils and meat taste, that we kept going for seconds and thirds. The rest of the Paradise Inn story, I shall blog it down another time, if I still have the mood. Thinking of it just makes me boil.

It was to be a night of fun and perhaps drinking, but generally we were having the another goes sort of thought and we just moved on from one place to another. After dinner, we sauntered over to the next building, which was the Orchard Central (OC). I wanted to introduce them to Crystal Jade Cafe but by the time we reached it, the "Close" sign was being hung at the menu rostrum outside. We went in search of other sit-down joints.

We found Heavenly Loft + Ben and Jerry's ice cream joint. It was a nice place to be. There was a big mural across the wall in which the centre piece was Adam and Eve. There were a bunch of people whom, I presumed had just finished the World Vision 40 hour Fast (they were wearing the T-shirts) and were breaking fast at the cafe. Nice crowd and staff were OK. Did not chase us away. Minor boo-boo was that they did not ask me before removing my root beer float tall glass. It was not much; just the ice water that had melted while we chatted away, but it would have been plain courtesy to open one's golden mouth to ask before removing it.

We sat till about twelve plus maybe? And then they asked us for last order. We rejected their kindness and paid up to leave. We were still undecided about drinks. The original plan was to go to KPO, which was across the road from OC. We were half-hearted and seeing that it was not so happening while we were waiting to cross the street, we decided to just take a stroll down to Plaza Singapura.

We went to the basement to get money from the ATM and was going to sit at McDonald's but realised that they were closing at 1 am, which was about when we asked them what time they closed. We still wanted to walk and talk and so decided to trot down to the Cathay. There we sat at Starbucks and chatted some more. What a lazy, easy-going night! We were there till about 3am, when the last of its customers left and there was only the girl on night shift cleaning up.

We said our good-byes and took our separate cabs homes. It was indeed good catch up time and I wonder how long this will last as I think will be the last single standing. Heehee!

Some things are meant not to be said

2010-06-04T00:09:00.004+08:00

Alright. I might just get bashed up for writing this post but let me just say right from the start that this is purely from my own personal experience and from my own point of view and it is more towards the person in question and not to criticise the whole race, so to speak.

Today, one of my colleagues suddenly gloated to all the rest of us that the only reason that Singapore Table Tennis players could beat the China players was because the Chinese officials in-charge had sent out young and inexperienced players and not those that were already well exposed and National Champions don't know how many times over.

Almost immediately, the whole air around us became very tense and it became like a Singapore Vs China kind of conversation, a my-country-is-better-than-yours kind of conversation. One of my other colleagues , let's call her Colleague 2, was very sarcastic by telling her, "Yes, we do not have enough talents and so have to buy talent from overseas, like China...many of our sports talents are foreigners, etc, etc.

Silly me also went on to explain that there is absolutely nothing wrong with foreign talent. That was a common thing. I told them to look at soccer and some other sport like that. They have lots of players who do not belong to that country but are playing for that team because the money is good. I suppose at that point of time, I missed the point totally and was perhaps trying to tell that other teacher that she did not have to explain why we have foreign talents winning the game for us.

Our dear friend continued gloating by saying that there is no way that Singapore was going to win if not for that fact that the China team gave us a chance. Ha!! The whole place was getting heated up and was started to feel like a war zone.

Then comes Colleague 3 (she is also from China) who says it best of all, "It does not matter who wins, what is most important is that we (the Chinese) won. That was when I felt that I was given a slap on the face and realised that the last laugh was on the colleague who was laughing and gloating at us, our country.

For what Colleague 3 said was right. Either way, the Chinese still win, Singapore or otherwise, for they are all Chinese nationals! It is like the gloating colleague was giving herself a slap on her own face. Instead of getting the kind of reaction that she wanted, she had embarrassed and humiliated herself.

Sigh...I tell you, if she were in Australia, maybe she would learn to be more low key than this. Anyway, I knew that I did when I was there many yonks back.

Well, this gloating colleague of mine can sometimes be nice but I suppose she still misses home and like most of us, patriotic to her home country.

You know you are addicted when...

2010-05-29T10:25:00.003+08:00

...You cannot wait to go home and switch on your computer to check whether your food is cooked and ready to serve; Or that you cannot wait to wake up so that you can again check whether your food has been cooked and ready to serve; you were calculating the amount of time to cook your food or the time when your food is ready until you almost forgot to get off at your mrt stop.

That is the level of obsession that I am in right now, but I am trying to control myself. I am trying to convince myself that these games actually keep me at home and away from shopping (i.e. spending money).

There are two games that I am playing consecutively now. One is of course, Cafe World, the other is Hotel City. The latter is a game whereby you gain money by building rooms and other such facilities to let people come in to occupy. As they stay for the night (about 2 to 3 minutes) they pay you money and thus allowing you to make more money to build more rooms or other commercials rooms like the gym room, restaurant, swimming pool, bar and such.

Oh! Last but not least, you know you are addicted when you talk about the game even when you are outside with friends and asking them to help you complete your spice rack and trying to convince another to join the game as well. You know who you are. Haha!

Happy 'cooking'!

Craving

2010-05-21T21:42:00.003+08:00

Never had I have such a bad craving for something. I almost thought that I was pregnant and although I know that I wasn't (how to, when I am so very single?), I thought I would die if I did not satisfy my craving.

It was a Tuesday evening and I decided to go and eat at Ion Orchard. I passed by the very much talked about bakery/ patisserie called Bread Society. It was opened by this very much celebrity Japanese baker and it has very European sort of breads there. My parents like the Kraften (hope I got the right spelling) dark rye bread and so whenever I can, I will buy it for them. It is $3.30 for only half a loaf! Super precious!

I once overhead this Japanese lady comment, "Tsubarashi" while I was buying bread in the shop and upon checking the internet, this word means something along the lines of "fantastic, excellent, incredible". If it came from a fellow Japanese's mouth, then it should be good! Then again, I already tried it before that and KNEW that it IS good!

There are lots of fanciful stuff within the shop like the custard brioche and things like that, but my favourites are 45rpm, mad about mushrooms, and most of all (the one that caused me to crave), the spinach and cheese bun.

Let me start with 45rpm. It is a super long sausage wrapped in dough and the description in the shop makes me conjure up this cartoon image of someone eating up a very long piece of bread from one end of the room to the other at top speed. The mad about mushroom piece has got some potato and squash in the middle of a round bread topped with lots and lots of forest mushrooms. Hee! Maybe not forest mushrooms but really delicious ones.

I chanced upon the spinach and mushroom buns by accident. They were just lying in the corner, away from the main trays of buns. They did not look very attractive. I had to walk by twice to finally decide to get them. I only got it because the ingredients reminded me of quiche lorraine, which I happen to like.

It was love at first bite when I heated it up in the oven to eat. Yummmmm, yummmm!!!! I really wanted to go back that same night (Wednesday) to buy some more as they were not too expensive, but I really could not. I had to attend classes. Bummer! The thought of me not being able to eat it the next day and having to wait two days to buy and eat it just made me feel all panicky and like I said before, I thought I was going to die. At that point of time, it was worse than missing someone.

Anyhow, I really went back to Bread Society yesterday to get my beloved bread rolls and I have another new favourite which is called mustard and bacon on dark rye. Yes, I actually went to the heart of Orchard Road, despite the newspapers reporting that the Orchard MRT had been marked by Indonesian terrorists; despite the fact that there was heightened security all around. All this, for the sake of food.

p/s: The Japanese baker, who has a life-size cut out of himself in the shop, actually does exist! My mum was fortunate enough to see him kneading dough in his work area and she said that he was very polite as he nodded at her every time he looked up and saw her. Aaaargh!!!! Jealous!!!!

Instant Noodles

2010-05-21T20:57:00.003+08:00

It has been awhile since I ate instant noodles as I find that it makes me grow fat rather easily. Recently, as mentioned in my previous posting, I watched this Taiwanese programme that happened to be talking about instant noodles. They were asking some artistes when their poorest period was and how did tney manage to keep themselves full. It was instant noodles of course, and the artistes also went up to cook their own style of instant noodles to let the rest try.

Woah! All that cooking on t.v. made me drool and tonight, I went to buy myself some more instant noodles. This time though, I decided to be a little healthier and bought some vegetables and fish dumplings to go along with the food.

I realised that the Indomie brand of noodles have changed packaging. I think there could have been some sort of merger or something for there was a new brand added on top. Or it could just be Singaporean venture or merger of sorts. For what I saw next was rather surprising too as Nissin, the mother and father of all instant noodles in the world has commissioned some Indonesian company to manufacture and come up with the brand, Mi Bagus. It has a very South East Asian slant to it and its tag line, "makan already?", which means "eat already?". Hmm...all the marketing tactics and strategies.

Anyway, back to my dinner. I finally cooked my dinner using the Nissin orignal flavour, which is the sesame oil one. It used to be my favourite. When I opened the packet, the very first thing I noticed was that the packet for the powdered seasoning has changed. Or rather, the colour for the packet has. Next, I sort of noticed that the sesame oil packet seems to have shrunk. Maybe it was just my own illusion. They might just have made it rectangular in shape instead of the usual squarish shape.

Upon eating, I realised, to my (sort of) dismay, that the taste has changed too! The seasoning, albeit less salty, is not as fragrant and tasty as before. I miss the old taste already!

Anyway, I consoled myself that it will always be my favourite brand of instant noodles, followed by Indomie Goreng, followed by Myojo Charmee and then the Korean noodles. well...let's just say that I am a bit of an instant noodle connoisseur of sorts.

Will I ever get to eat dry noodles again?

2010-05-16T23:02:00.003+08:00

Recently, I have been very troubled by the fact that most hawkers sell their dry noodles, rather wet!!

It all started from my minced meat mee pok, that I love to eat. Some places just love to scoop one big scoop of soup to so-call mix the sauces together, when I specifically ordered dry mee pok.

Then it extended to the wanton noodles that I love to eat! They had to scoop soup into the wanton noodles dry that I ordered. I was particularly very angry with this stall at Gourmet Paradise, a food court at Toa Payoh HDB Hub. I had specifically told the guy, "dry-dry, don't add soup". But in the midst of all that talking with his co-worker, he added one round of soup into my noodles already. The second time that I saw him wanting to scoop some more soup, I literally barked at him not to do so. I was fuming mad as I was ordering take-away and by adding soup, it would make the noodles super soggy.

True enough, the noodles were soggy and it had a very bitter taste to it, which means a certain type of ingredient (called jian shui in Chinese) has been overly used in this noodle. I swear I will never eat at this stall again.

At first, I thought this was a trend brought in my Chinese nationals but it seems like the Malaysians (those working at the Gourmet Paradise Hong Kong style roast) are also picking up on this adding soup onto dry noodles habit.

Worst still, I was watching this Taiwanese show on cable t.v. and they were doing an episode on instant noodles. The host was also doing the same thing!! She was demonstrating how to cook IndoMie Mee Goreng and after she dished out the noodles, she poured some soup in to mix!!! EEeeeks!!!

I guess it boils down to personal preference but I really prefer my dry noodles to be just that! Dry!!

I think the only mee pok I will eat will be from the stall at Kopi Tiam food court at Plaza by the Park (reachable by Circle Line, Stop: Bras Basah)and this 24-hour coffee shop at Toa Payoh. But for the latter, I must ensure I get the right staff to cook. If not, this other lady will still steal some soup and even add ketchup, which to me, in mee pok world, is not acceptable.

This stall at this particular food court is called Tang Ren Jie (Chinatown). You must look out for the uncle with white hair and not the uncle with thinning black hair. The latter is a stand-in. He has a slightly bad temper and does not cook as well as the 'original' uncle.

As for wanton noodles, I shall tell you in my future postings, which ones I prefer. Got to get the addresses right first before I 'report'.

Virtual cooking Vs Real cooking

2010-05-09T23:21:00.002+08:00

Today, I cooked my own dinner again, using Linguine. I just change the ingredients around. It is quite a versatile dish to work with.

This time around, I still tossed with Balsamic vinegar and olive oil but I put cut up cherry tomatoes, shredded chicken, thyme and parmesan.

I even put the chicken breast meat to good use. There was a whole lot of shredded chicken breast left and I intend to use it to make salad for sandwiches and stuff.

The funniest bit was that I was both cooking in the kitchen and 'cooking' in Cafe World. Halfway through stirring my pasta, the alarm sounded from my laptop, indicating that my food was ready. Inexperienced me was so afraid that my food will spoil that I rushed to click and serve, with ladle in hand. Hahaha! It was a funny sight and my mum had a bewildered and puzzled look on her face as she saw me fly past her.

Cough, cough, cough...

2010-05-09T23:10:00.002+08:00

Been coughing non-stop the whole of this weekend, despite the fact that I am already taking Chinese medicine. Before, I would have wanted to cut off my nose. Now, I wish to cut off my nose and dig my lungs out.

I have coughed till I have chest aches and at times, I can barely hold my pee when I cough! It is terrible, but I really have to be a little more patient with Chinese medicine. They just take longer to take effect. Either that or I must have taken something that I am not supposed to. Anyway, I am lifting it all up to Him now as I struggle on to sleep peacefully tonight and have to use my voice tomorrow.

Meanwhile, I will just have to rely on my Nin Jiom throat sweets as supplements to my medicine and my Badger Chest Rub to relieve a little of the coughing (hopefully).

Charm of Chinatown

2010-05-08T23:43:00.004+08:00

I went down with Dad and Mum to Chinatown today. I used to think that it was tacky to be going to such a place as it is THE place for old foggies. Throughout the years though, I somehow had a pretty regular 'relationship' with this place. Dad would bring me to the Chinatown Food Centre every Sunday for porridge and then he discovered the other porridge stall (Ho Kai Kee/ He Qi Ji) and we went to that other coffee shop for porridge.

After my schooling days, I went down to Chinatown less and I did not eat porridge so regularly but about four, five years ago, Dad introduced me to the porridge stall at Maxwell Road and we started going to Chinatown again. Until we sold the car, that is. Dad was not deterred though. He had all the time in the world and would take a bus down to Chinatown to look for his favourite food stalls.

Today, with public transport so well connected, I am visiting the place again. I witnessed the Chinatown Food Centre being built when all the roadside hawkers were asked to move into hawker centres like these. It was for public health reasons that they shooed them into buildings. It has undergone at least 2 major renovations since.

Today, the Chinatown Food Centre is still a very crowded place. The old and/or mature like my Dad, go there to seek solace in comfort food and reminisce in familiar surroundings; the young go there in search of famous food stalls told to them through websites/blogs/forums/their own parents/their friends; some old bring their young to 'pass down' the tradition in terms of the type of food and the stalls they frequent; the foreigners are also there perhaps due to good marketing by our tourism board.

Sitting there on a rainy Saturday afternoon, near where the escalators are, I could see all these people coming and going. There was a very heartwarming sort of feeling and there is a charm about the whole place that drew me in and made me want to stay there for longer. Alas! The lack of air conditioning also makes me want to up and go, to somewhere more airy.

There is always the first level, where the sundry stalls are located. I used to find the clothes there tacky, but now, it a nice place to find nice clothes at reasonably good prices. There is also the CD store which I used to suspect that it was selling pirated CDs. Turns out that they are parallel imports from China and therefore much cheaper that way.

Till next week, I would just have to be contented with the food and happenings around my area.

Stuck in the virtual world

2010-05-08T21:45:00.002+08:00

For the longest time now, I have resisted playing those virtual games on Facebook. Maybe that was because I was scared off last time by The Sims Family. It seemed really hard to play and ever since my one attempt with it, I was convinced that I would not touch such games anymore. I was convinced I should stick to such games as Tetris, Puzzle Boggle and so on.

Well, not until very recently anyway. After playing Bejeweled Blitz (BB) for the longest time, I succumbed to playing Cafe World. By the way, I must also say that I did attempt to play Restaurant City but was so confused by it that I stopped playing.

I was introduced to Cafe World by Spacecake. Spacecake preferred the idea of waiting for things to cook and earning coins by letting people eat, rather than just clicking away at the jewels to earn the highest score. BB was merely a test of speed. To some extent, I agree, but sometimes, when you just want mindless playing, BB is still good.

It was cook at first sight!!! I mean, this was an easy game to play and yet, at the same time, it satisfied my desire to cook, own my own cafe and be my own boss all at the same time! In the virtual world of course. Maybe I am just that easy to satisfy.

It is a game that makes me want to stay home and go home quickly if I am outside!!! I would count the number of hours before my food is cooked and then try to make it home by then. Not that the food will go bad that soon (they have a certain time limit for you to serve the food. If you pass that time, your food goes bad and all the cooking goes to waste).

It also helps someone like me learn a thing or two about time management. The cooking time and the serving time should be such that there will be enough serving counters once the food is ready. Of course, one can decide to delete the food on the serving counter in order to serve the cooked food, but I would not want to throw away food that I spent hours to 'cook'!

There is also the anticipation of getting to the next level and also getting the opportunity to add new stoves and serving counters and of course, to expand your cafe! It makes me want to play it even more.

When I first started playing, I even went to the extent of making sure I have a starter, a main and a dessert. Now though, I just take the points and cooking time into consideration.

There were a few things that got me very tickled too! Firstly, you see virtual versions of your friends coming into your cafe to eat. Then, you can actually employ your friend to be a wait staff. Then your friend, who is your wait staff can actually serve himself or herself. Last but not least, the characters (i.e. the cook, the wait staff and the customers) can walk through stoves and other characters to walk out of the cafe. I was beyond myself when I first saw that!

I just hope I do not get too addicted to it and I do not know when I will get bored of it and ditch the whole idea of playing this game but for now, I am enjoying myself and cooking while I am blogging all about it.

Life plans

2010-05-05T23:55:00.002+08:00

Oh gosh! It was a stressful week and I am glad that half of it is gone. We had to do role play for this particular module of my course (yet again!) Although I think that acting is not that difficult a task for me, but I think the conceptualising, brainstorming and the getting it all together, is altogether very, very stressful.

I am just glad that it is over now. From now though, got to headache about the 60% worth of individual assignment. Think the weightage of this assignment is too high and it is causing us unnecessary stress. We are very near end of our course and practicum is coming soon. Starting from June in fact. Got to clock in hours of work experience and then have a final site visit by a practicum supervisor. Altogether another big load of stress.

Sometimes I do not understand why I had put myself through all this torture. Then again, I think about some of my classmates who will turn 50 as they graduate and I tell myself that it is not that tough after all.

Then, there are those course mates who are already thinking of which course to take next. I suppose the lesson I need to learn here is to plan. Have at least one 5-year plan in my life. I thought I could be contented with this job for a while but somehow, it seems of the general opinion that if you don't have a plan, you are not human or that you must have a screw lose in your head.

Well, plan is good, plan is good. Will sit down and seriously map out my 5-year plan now. After all, this assignment requires that of us to map out one.

My date with Donnie Yen

2010-05-01T00:31:00.003+08:00

Was wondering what to do on the eve of the Labour Day holiday when the morning papers inspired me to go watch a movie. I was contemplating whether to go Bishan GV to watch or somewhere else instead (as J8 tends to get a little claustrophobic).

Then I thought of Kallang Leisure Park at the Stadium MRT stop. Hahaha! It was decided then, Instincts told me that there will not be that many people there, but I was wrong. Although it did not draw crowds like Bugis or Takashimaya, it was still quite a turn out!

Anyway, the next dilemma was which movie to watch. I could not decide between Ip Man 2, Iron Man 2 or this other Chinese movie filmed by Malaysian singer "Ah Niu". In the end, you should know which one I chose, since the title of this post says it all.

To me, the show was fantastic and I feel like watching it a second time. I liked the way Donnie Yen portrays Ip Man himself. Calm, cool and collected.

By the way, I discovered that Kallang Leisure Park is one of the few places that does not have one single POSBank and/or DBS ATMs!!!! How bizarre!

After watching the movie, I went train-tripping on the Circle Line. There were many ways to reach home: I could either take the Circle Line to Dhoby Gaut and switch to the North South line (red) to go home. Instead, I took the one going to Bishan. After all, there is only a one stop difference.

I think this train-tripping will continue until I feel trippy and has to stop :-P

The symphony of frogs

2010-04-30T00:07:00.003+08:00

When I was little, my dad, mum and I would take evening walks after dinner. I think those were the times that I treasured most in my childhood. We would stroll round the private estate (as we call it) and would eventually come to a playground where I would go on the swing, the merry-go-round and the see-saw. I think these are stuff that are fast disappearing from the playgrounds of today.

Before we reach our destination (the playground) though, there would be this steep slope and a big drain that we will definitely have to walk by. Dad used to make it really scary but still ask me to look into the deep, deep drain and he would point out frogs to me. Sometimes I see them, sometimes I only see them. Either way, I think they were horrible things and I never understood why my Dad made me see such things. Now of course I do, as it is part of Science and such. There were also sometimes lots of snails on the roads and Dad and Mum would almost always ask me to look.

As I grew up, I moved to places called flats/apartments and I had almost no chance of seeing such sights or hearing such sounds. Tonight though, I heard the symphony of the frogs. It would have grossed me out many years back but I now feel that it is music to my ears.

You see, there are many ways to get home and one of them involves me walking through vast lands of green grass between blocks of flats. It is a piece of land that they use for setting up a stage for the Chinese seventh month or what we popularly call "getai". It had rained again in the late afternoon today, as is so for many late afternoons now. Once this happens, I say "the frogs come out to sing".

I suppose it is a phenomenon and as much as I would encounter a frog face to face, I think the crooning of the frogs gives comfort to a lonely soul walking back home after work at night. It brings back memories and the good old times and sends warm fuzzy feelings tingling all over. It made me want to bring my kids over to experience this whole...phenomenon. They are sure to ask questions and be curious, like I was many years ago.

Have your heard the frogs sing? Have you heard them sing in sync? Find your own patch of froggy land and listen in. It's free and it is beautiful.

Waffling

2010-04-29T00:00:00.002+08:00

I was sick and resting at home today until evening time when I had to get to my classes. Serves me right for not going twice before and using up my 20% chance of absenteeism.

Anyway, I think I feel better now except that I still have a 'sexy' voice. Last night, when I came home after the doc's, Dad asked me to take care of myself and not eat rubbish when I am out and about. I told him directly that I cannot help it if I have rhinitis or that my immune system is so bad.

This leads me to the question as to why I should be in this world in the first place. I think my parents made a very selfish decision to give birth to me (I know I would probably get bashed up for saying this but this is really how I feel). Selfish in that they only gave birth to me and then letting me be responsible for them when they grow old. I do not have any other siblings to share the responsibility with. Selfish in that I am alone all the time and contrary to what everyone else is thinking, an only child is not very fun to be.

Selfish because after they have only me, they continue to live life as if they were a couple and I was an outsider looking in at their lives. Well, maybe I exaggerate or I may be overly sensitive. Maybe they just want to give me my space, but they do not realise that my social life is almost zero? Or that I am very bad with making new friends? This leads me to what I am about to say next.

Recently, I have been reading a book about the autistic spectrum disorder and was wondering if I was mildly autistic myself. I was giving myself lots of 'analysis' and excuses as I was a really quiet child at birth and my social skills are not fantastic. I seem to have a slower learning process than others.

I have also been reading up quite a bit about the Indigo Child. Well, maybe all these are terms to coin people who are different from the norm and it made some sense to me as my mum was considered mature when she gave birth to me. Hmm...yes, I like this explanation. Makes me feel a little better about myself. Hahaha!

I am waffling, I know. I am normal. Or at least, I think I am. Whatever it is, I am responsible for my own life now and will stop looking at the past or blaming it. Sounds familiar? Well, it Stephen Covey said something to that extent and we just learned about it in class.

More pasta

2010-04-25T01:37:00.005+08:00

Since I am on the subject of food and cooking, thought I should have this posted up too. It was dinner that I cooked some weeks back for my Dad and myself. It was sausage and mushroom linguini tossed in lemon and olive oil. It was topped with lightly browned garlic.

Yes, Linguini is my new favourite pasta since I was doing more tossing sauces and such. I did not need the fusili to hold the gravy :)

The salad seen in the second pic is romaine lettuce topped with the Japanese salad sauce called Kinnogomadare.

What's for dinner?

2010-04-24T23:43:00.006+08:00

Dinner was Basil & Champagne Ham Linguini tossed in Balsamic Vinegar Dressing. It was topped with grated Parmesan cheese to lift the flavour of the ham while the basil gives the dish a nice twist. The shaved ham is readily available at Cold Storage. In fact, this is a housebrand and therefore much more reasonable than other types. I was eyeing the Prosciutto ham but they were just too expensive to stomach. This dish is simple and easy to prepare and yet, oh so delish!!

The 'hardest' part was cooking the linguini and chopping up the basil. The rest was just a breeze! I was also lucky enough to catch the promotion the last time I bought Parmesan cheese. They gave away free pasta measuring equipment and now I just have to stick those noodles into those round thingy to suit the number of servings I want :)

I dare not say that my cooking is fantastic but what I can say is that it is slowly improving and it's especially satisfying to eat stuff that one has cooked for oneself.

Bon Apetit a moi!

Next stop: Stadium

2010-04-24T22:30:00.005+08:00

After brunch, I convinced Dad to take the new Circle Line to the stop called "Stadium". I had wanted to alight there when I brought Grandma on the Circle Line trip on the 18th (of this month) but she did not seem too interested and we had alighted at Bras Basah instead.

This time around, I was determined and Dad was agreeable as he did not want to drink the coffee from the coffee shop that we took porridge in (read previous post) and off we went, taking the NEL to Dhoby Gaut and switching to the Circle Line there. Dhoby Gaut is now super busy, it being the interchange of 3 different lines.

When we arrived at Stadium, this was what we saw:

One of the two stations with natural sky light. The other station is Bras Basah.

See the far end of the escalator on the first picture? This is what I can actually see, except that I had to walk nearer in order to get a nicer picture.

We shopped a little at Kallang Leisure Park and had our coffee at Wang Cafe. I ended up buying groceries from the Cold Storage there and as I was about to leave the place, there was an announcement to grab goodie bags as long as we have a minimum spending of $10. I quickly retraced my steps to collect my goodie bag and was happy that I got 2 of them! Reason being that my spending at Cold Storage was over $20. Wow! What a great day it was turning out to be!

I was happy too soon though for when I tried to top up my ez-link card at the new top-up machine, it failed to do so. I panicked as I did not see any station control except for this counter that looked more like a store room than anything else.

Thank goodness there were instructions to speak via an intercom to the officer. I pressed. Waited for about 12 seconds before there was a response and after briefly describing my plight, was told to wait for an officer to assist me. It was a good two or three minutes before I saw a figure of an officer, half running towards me. I soon got to know why.

The station control was right at the other end of where I was and I tell you, it could have been a 100m dash or maybe even 200m!! No wonder she took so long to reach me! I was breathing a little heavily after I was told to go there to get my card checked. Turns out that mine was not an isolated case. Ha! Systems. Do I know about them! I used to have to explain all the system boo-boos to customers and from that experience, I have learned that I need to give these staff a little trust and let them do their thing.

Apparently, if I used the old General Sales Machine (GSM) to top-up, they would have been able to check and re-fund accordingly (if any). But because this new top-up machine is by NETS, there is no way for immediate action. Forms were being filled out by the CSO (customer service officer) I had to fill in some personal details myself and then I had to wait. For two weeks. I suupose, they need to check with NETS and then ding dong a little before they find out whether money had been deducted from my NETS card.

I emphasise again, that if I did not work in a similar environment before, I would have screamed and shouted things like "I want my money back NOW!" or "How do I know that you are not cheating me of my money" or "Now that you have taken my receipt then what proof would I have that a transaction did take place?", etc, etc. Instead, I just smiled, nodded my head as she explained away and was very cooperative.

After that, I took a pleasant ride back to where I live. Happy and excited, as I was already planning what to cook for dinner.

Lost and found

2010-04-24T21:39:00.006+08:00

What a lovely day Saturday can be when one does not have to work. Today was such a day. My parents and I went to Bright Hill Temple to pay our respects to my third uncle who had his ashes there. Then we headed down to Chinatown to have our yummy porridge.

Actually, in between, there were lots of arguments among the three of us as my Dad was being his usual stubborn self and wanted everything to be precisely right. Not forgetting that he had to have the last word to everything.

Luckily this time around, Mum was on my side as she was also on the receiving end. She chided Dad for being difficult and I took the opportunity to tell her gently to sometimes try to see from my point of view and not keep siding Dad.

It was a yummy brunch of pork ball porridge. The last time I went there, I told Dad that that was the only stall closest to the one that we used to eat and like. It was called Ho Kai Kee (Cantonese intonation). That particular porridge stall inside an old coffee shop had to make way for redevelopment as the whole road was closed and converted to be something else.

Dad had already mentioned that the man behind the stove looked very familiar and he thought it might be one of them working at Ho Kai Kee. This time around, he was more determined than ever to find out. First, he got a name card from his wife and surprise, surprise! His surname was (and still is) "Ho"!

You could say that curiosity killed the cat next, when he decided to ask her upfront. Low and behold, he was from that same stall that we used to eat almost every week when I was in Secondary school (I think)! Strange though for I could only remember the other brother who was the main cook back at the old stall. That brother used to have a stall at Bedok after the ended the Chinatown business, but later ended it too. That was during my Uni days I think. You can imagine my excitement and joy when I found out this morning that this was indeed the person from my favourite stall from years back!

This stall is at a corner coffee shop at Keong Saik Road. One can get a good view of The Pinnacle from where one sits at the coffee shop.

I think the Sunday ritual of eating porridge in Chinatown is going to resume very soon. This was what I used to do with my Dad when I was little. We would go to the Chinatown food centre and eat at this stall just behind "Er Gu Tang Shui" (Ee Gu Tong Shui in Cantonese intonation). This stall is called Wen Ji (Mun Kee in Cantonese intonation) and when we went back there to eat last week, the standard of the porridge has dropped greatly. I think, first of all, the old man has passed on, leaving the matriarch and her sons. Only one of her sons man the stall at Chinatown now. The other two have each opened a stall at Bedok Central and another food centre at Bedok South respectively (I think it's BLK 58).

Anyhow, we rarely ate at Wen Ji in recent years but more at Cheng Ji (Cantonese intonation: Seng Kee) at the Maxwell Road Food Centre. As you can see, I am quite a porridge lover.

I owe all this pickiness for porridge to the fact that I am Cantonese and when it comes to food, we are a little like connoisseurs. We can even take our mundane food very seriously and critique it to no end. At least for my family. That said, I know when to shut up and just eat. For one should be grateful that there is food to eat at all.

Yet another rave...about Circle Line

2010-04-22T22:15:00.003+08:00

OK. So I cannot stop talking about it. The Circle Line is getting crowded!!! It has become the new babe of everybody, until of course, when it had a glitch yesterday. But life goes on and everyone who needs it will take it. It is so fast for me to get to school now that there is a stop called "Bras Basah". I always laugh when they announce the stop though, coz they drag the word "Basah" and make it sound like "Basaaw".

Anyway, I like the new feel of the stations and new seats on the train. Don't really like the fact that I have to fight the flow of human traffic though. While I am switching from the North-South Line (red) to the Circle Line (yellow), there seems to be so many people walking against you and it is really difficult to manoeuvre my way to the escalators.

Hee, and I like that my alma mater is being announced every time as it is the last station for the moment. At least until the other parts of the Circle Line is complete.

I must say, for the first time, I am truly impressed and proud of something in my home country. They have really created very nice stations, especially the Bras Basah station. As you take the escalator towards the exit points, don't forget to look up towards the ceiling where there is a see-through pool of water. It is best viewed during the day when there is wind. This is so that you can see the ripples of water making art before your eyes. This station is rather deep too and I have noticed that they have incorporated speakers at the side of the escalators so that one will not miss out on any announcements. Neat!

At night, on the big piece of wall that reminds me of the steeples of churches (perhaps a reflection of the Catholic churches nearby), they have multimedia projections of the artistic kind. This, I suppose, is to give it an artsy feel and is in line with the arts museum that is just above it.

Well, I might just go to the museum tomorrow night as Friday nights are free nights. Now that it is so accessible, no reason why I should not go there more often.

New oven: part deux

2010-04-18T10:21:00.003+08:00

There is no doubt that there is going to be a "part trois", "part quart" and so on, but I am just so excited that I needed to pen this down.

The first items I toasted were of course, the breads from the bread shop and then this morning, I popped in some streaky bacon that I had bought from NTUC yesterday (see previous post) and two slices of bread.

I would say that I made myself a decent breakfast eating apples, one sunny side-up, two slices of bread, bacon and a cup of coffee. Aahhh...life is good, and cooking at home is good.

Last night, managed to re-constitute food taken from work (fried macaroni) into my own dish. What else but bacon and garlic? I feel that bacon is a cheap but delicious way to raise the value of your food. Just need to add a little to make your dish more classy and yummy. Garlic is so fragrant when browned that it really lifts the dish to new heights. Hehehe... I am starting to drool already and I should perhaps go work on a cooking show or something.

I also managed to make myself a quick and simple side dish: french beans with bacon bits!! I simply cut the beans into half and boiled it in salt water. Drain and add some yummy Japanese salad dressing called Kinnogomadare. Sprinkle freshly fried bacon bits just before serving. YUM!!

I intend to make more of the same salad for lunch this afternoon to go with the beef ribeye that I also bought from NTUC yesterday. Am missing some condiments like black pepper and cooking wine but what the heck! Going to make do with whatever I can find at home.

Looks like I am a Western girl, no? Well, in a way, they are easier and less messy to prepare. Will try Asian cuisine once I am a more competent cook.

Circle Line

2010-04-18T09:52:00.003+08:00

I AM So IN LOVE with the Circle Line!!! Of course, it is completely new and it is fast!! Took it back home after work yesterday and it was a breeze until I came to Bishan.

I went to the NTUC at Junction 8 and it was so super crowded! I only half blame the people/shoppers for it you were a seasoned supermarket shopper like me, you would realise that the aisles of NTUC is narrower than those at Cold Storage or even Giant and Carrefour. The whole place was oozing with people.

What was worse was that I tripped and knocked my arm against the hand pole. The train jerked so badly when it was coming to a halt that I lost balance. Luckily someone supported me from the back. It was so embarrassing. Another reason why I prefer the less crowded circle line.

Back to NTUC, I have a love-hate relationship with it. While I have always preferred Cold Storage, I think NTUC is catching up! They were selling hams and meats supplied by Culina, which has very good expertise with quality cuts of beef, lamb, hams and anything European.

Nevertheless, I think I will still be bought over by the nicer shopping experience at Cold Storage. I don't get so worked up and haughty before, during and after shopping.

Cold Storage and Circle Line rocks!!!

New oven!!!

2010-04-15T14:08:00.002+08:00

Told you I was getting more and more housewifey! Finally got the oven that I needed. Not too big, not too small. Just right to roast a chicken, bake some cookies and perhaps make a small cake.

This is mostly Nigella Lawson's fault, I must say. No, really. The maternal and housewife instincts are setting in. Except, I am not a mother, neither am I now a wife. But I do have a whole bunch of kids that I can teach baking to and make chocolate with. I think it is going to be fun trying out recipes before teaching them. I must say, I am a green horn myself, when it comes to baking.

I do not know what I want to bake yet but I have re-toasted my breads from Bread Talk and they are so yummilicious!

Anyway, the next thing would probably be a mixer, so that I can beat the eggs and flour together with. Kekekeke....

Shopping @ Ikea!!!

2010-04-09T00:09:00.006+08:00

OK! So it is not all gray skies here at camp Livvie. I went shopping last Good Friday eve. Bought myself a CD rack that I had been eyeing since the day I shifted. It could hold like hundred over CDs and I desperately needed that. No doubt my CDs were already sitting in those Ikea paper boxes called Kassette or something like that but I just felt it was not a long term solution, having to open the boxes one by one to search for the CDs. Anyway, the CD rack (or tower, as I like to call it) is called Benno and is now standing tall in my room, next to my mini hi-fi.

While I was there, I managed to grab the breakfast tray called Nordby, which I have longed to have since the days when I was acting as the rat in The three samurai cats for Asian Children's Festival. One of my colleagues had brought it to use as a prop. Now, I am proudly using it as I type, to put my laptop on my bed. Hee, perhaps I can use it when I really do feel like having breakfast in bed, but I am a believer of no-food-in-the-room.

As my income has shrunk considerably, I now really see the importance of being prudent, but it really makes me think twice, even three times before I buy anything and it also makes me treasure things more. I had a good time window shopping though and nothing beats a good plate of Swedish meatballs!!!!! Yummy!!!!! Had to give the gravlax a miss though coz I was spending on a budget. From another point of view, that would mean that I was eating less. Hee! I also had to decide to take only 10 meatballs instead of 15. Just as well too though, for the two gentlemen before me also only took 10. If I took 15, I would really sound and look like a glut. Hahaha!

I would probably need another CD tower but that would have to wait till next month or so, depending on what my priorities are. Anyway, I am just happy that I got most of my CDs rearranged and I am listening to my old CDs instead of keep buying new ones.

Life thus far

2010-04-08T23:34:00.008+08:00

I have been very quiet recently. Not that I have found new love or anything like that. It is just that I feel that there is nothing much to write about. My life is simply work, study, home, work, window-shop, home and so on.

All the encounters I had while outside, are all unpleasant and it will all amount to grouses, which I find, will become too negative. Perhaps though, I should start a blog about customer service. Still thinking about it as I feel that I have less and less time to work on a computer nowadays. When I do switch it on, it will be to play Bejeweled Blitz on Facebook. It is very therapeutic that way, you know. In the end, I neglect blogging.

Well, let's talk about the happy stuff then! A "Popeyes" has opened near where I stay and I am absolutely delighted! The chicken is yummier than the one with the old man as a logo. Heeheehee! Don't get me wrong. I used to like the old man's chicken but through the years, I must have gotten bored with it. Let us just say that their standards might have changed too and it is not to my liking.

The other happy thing is that the MRT Circle Line is going to open soon (at least the portion that leads me to my work place). I will commute via MRT instead of the bus soon. Don't get me wrong, I do prefer the bus to the MRT anytime. It is just that the traffic on the road is so unpredictable. I am usually caught in a jam here and there and there are stops where more people alight or people just stop at more stops (if you get what I mean). With the MRT, I can at least monitor my time more accurately.

Besides, this Circle Line goes against the flow of the human traffic (read: not going via City Hall MRT station). Therefore, I hope there will be less people. The really cool thing happening for me is that the entrance to the circle line is just two streets from where I work. It will definitely be a shorter walk after a tiring day at work!

I have already taken the trial ride last weekend. I will be working on the 17th when it opens for operation. I can't wait!

At the hospital...and a few more other places

2010-03-21T00:22:00.004+08:00

On 20th March 2010

6.25pm:
Dad meets me at the Outram Park MRT bus stop leading up to Singapore General Hospital.

6.35pm:
We reach Granpa's ward in ICU. Before that the nurse had already called us while we were registering ourselves downstairs. Told us that he was almost going and told us to come down to the hospital now.

6.50pm:
Grandpa leaves this world, after Dad and I spoke to him. He was not able to open his eyes by then but can see and hear his breathing change as Dad and I spoke to him.

It was a long night after that. We waited at the mortuary for an hour at least. For the first time, I see a corpse being transported from hospital room to the mortuary and then into a vehicle.

There was another long wait at the police station where we had to get the real death certificate in order to get my Gramps cremated. It was such a joke (sorry policemen). Three men standing in front of one computer and receiving all sorts of calls and handling all sorts of cases except serving us, the ones sitting right in front of them. There was not even an acknowledgement of our presence. I do not need an apology. A "please hold on" would have been nice for someone (me) who had been up since 5am and working from 7am.

Anyway, by the time Dad, Mum and I reached home, it was already 12 midnight. Tomorrow will be another long day.

Rest in peace Gramps. I will miss you.

Second day of CNY

2010-03-11T16:18:00.006+08:00

Hee...I know this is a little late but I really thought it funny and had to blog about it.

We had a date with my eldest aunt and my cousin to play mahjong at my place on the second day of CNY. We were halfway through one of our games when the rubbish truck came! Who would have known that they were so hardworking? Long time ago, they would probably not have come until like, the third day?

Anyway, people who did not want to pay parking fees thought likewise and happily parked their cars where the gabbage roller shutter gates were. Many long horns ensued and we could see that they gabbage collectors were very angry. There was a short 'pause' and we saw (after the game finished) that all but one car had either shifted or driven away. More horning from the gabbage collector.

We continued to play our game but were too inquisitive to continue. We peered through our window to see that the gabbage truck was parked in an akward position. We deduced that the car did not move.

True enough, we saw the gabbage man using his hand phone and taking pictures. I think he must be giving that person a summon for it was also a place that did not allow parking at all times. It was where the fire engine was to be parked should there be a fire.

After the truck left, my cousin and I had a really good laugh! You should be able to see why when you see this picture.

Reunion dinners

2010-02-13T21:45:00.003+08:00

Finished our reunion dinner at about 8pm. The thing about eating out for reunion dinners is that there are many rounds and if you happen to be in the first round, you have to hurry up and eat.

Last night, we had our reunion dinner with my grandparents at Lingzhi as usual. Gramps does not like change much and we love the vegetarian food there and so here we were again. Food was good but by about 3am, I was hungry already.

Tonight, we had the dinner with my two aunts at Soup Restaurant. Food was fantastic but the service superficial. Plus we were the first round and there were two more rounds after us and so they were rather rushy with our food.

We went to the Soup outlet at City Square Mall and this place did not provide any dessert. Therefore, when we passed by Swenson's, we decided to go in to have some...ice cream! I was really delighted to see those old fashioned shell lamps being used, again. It brings back lots of memories when I was brought to the Swenson's at Plaza Singapura.

This year's CNY would be very different without a car. Already, I feel very tired thinking about all that walking and taking of public transport tomorrow.

Anyway, will not think so much now. I'll go watch the countdown variety shows and wrap red packets now!

Family day

2010-02-07T21:49:00.005+08:00

Brought Dad and Mum to 313@Somerset and Ion@Orchard today. They were needed to go see these new places and I was getting mouldy from staying at home.

It was a nice, warm, fuzzy feeling, the three of us. It was like a treat for a small child as I have not gone out with both my parents together for a long time now. We ate at Food Republic, shopped at HMV and Dad even bought a t-shirt from Uniqlo!! He was so proud that it was his third shirt from Uniqlo. The first two were bought in Hong Kong quite some time back. I asked him what's the point of telling me all this and what is there to boast about. His reply was that it showed that he was still very young and trendy. Indeed!

Dad had a fun time at Ion too as there were so many different food stalls at the food hall. That is the only thing that really attracts him. Anything else would be too expensive; a luxury that he can do without. Just my Dad. :)

I also brought him to see Prologue, the up-market version of Popular Bookstore. He also received free red packets compliments of Dunkin' Donuts!

After a long afternoon, we decided to get take-away for dinner. I found a Vietnamese stall that sells my Vietnamese sandwich, but it is still not as nice as Baguette, which was at Raffles City but closed down.

It was yet another happy Sunday but then, it will soon be Monday and will be back to work day. Sigh...Why can't we have 3 days of weekend?

My love life

2010-01-31T22:08:00.003+08:00

Just got my life fortune told and it was not so good in terms of my love life. Haha! What is new? Apparently, I am not suited for marriage and if I do, there would be lots of quarrels and unhappiness. How true!

The sad part is that the person that I like is also not suited for marriage. Well, I guess the not-so-sad part would be that I can let go and not try to imagine him as my potential boyfriend.

Funny thing was that I dreamed of him as my boyfriend this afternoon while I had a nap!! We were so lovey-dovey and intimate and it was so real that I could not believe myself (in the dream of course).

Apparently, I will only get lucky after I turn 42 or so. What is the point, right? Anyway, I shall TRY to concentrate on other parts of my life that are OK and hope that life would not be so tough.

Proud of my dad, and some thoughts

2010-01-31T21:44:00.003+08:00

I must say that I am proud of my Dad and envious of him too. He has done things that I would never dare dream of doing. He just finished a series of 2 talks with the National Library. One was at Woodlands Library and the other (that just happened yesterday) was at the Bukit Merah Library.

The first talk, which was on Chinese Oldies, saw a turnout of about 50 people. The second, 100 over. This was all thanks to his good network of friends, who themselves are also promoting Chinese Oldies, who helped him to promote his talk as well.

I think it is no mean feat to be standing in front of so many people to do a talk, but I guess it is a subject that he likes and is close to his heart and therefore, he does not have any difficulty in conducting the talk at all.

I find myself so inadequate next to him and it leads me to think back to my own same old question as to why should people be so competitive. Why should they want to outshine other people and step and trample on others while trying to prove their own self-worth? By belittling others, does that make that person a better person?

Well, I suppose such is life and sometimes (even as I sound pessimistic), I feel that I am not of this world; that I may never fit in and am always standing on the outside looking in. People have also never attempted to include me into this world. They have always seen me standing outside and left me there.

Such are my thoughts sometimes. It is a recurring thought and I suppose, I should jump away from this thought in order to shift my paradigm (Stephen Covey) and go for some change (Haha! Cliche!).

Home cooking

2010-01-31T21:23:00.004+08:00

I had a lazy day today, but I would say, quite productive in the morning. I walked from home to Pek Kio Hawker Centre with my Dad to have breakfast. After that, I bought some very nice and fresh romaine lettuce and mushrooms to cook for lunch.

We then walked to City Square Mall (again!) to get some bacon and some stuff from Popular Bookstore before taking the free shuttle home. Technically speaking, we did not spend a cent on transportation.

The dish I cooked up was, in my opinion, was yummy! I just thought it off my head but I suppose, there was a little inspiration from watching "Jamie at home". He was cooking romaine lettuce the other day and I felt I had to get me some to cook too!

I fried the garlic first with olive oil and mixed it with Aminos (the equivalent of soy sauce in my household). Then I mixed all the linguini into the sauce. My inspiration came from those balsamic vinegar salad dressings that I so often see the chefs make on Discovery and Living Channel.

Next, I fried the bacon bits that I have chopped up earlier from the streaky bacon that I bought. Sweat it out a bit before finally putting in the romaine lettuce. Gave it a good stir and then put it on top of the linguini. Yum!

Last week, I cooked hairy gourd with dried scallops. Thought it was very good for a first-time experiment, except Dad did not like the fact that I did not have vermicelli. He said, that would have made more a Cantonese dish. I told him that this was an updated (and my own) version of the take on the "auntie marries off her daughter" (the name of the dish. We usually use dried shrimps and vermicelli to fry with the hairy gourd. Except that I did not particularly want to eat or cook vermicelli that day. Felt it was something that was not easy to handle/cook.

I find that as I get older, I am more prone to experimenting with food and this cooking thing is growing on me. I have not gotten the oven yet but when the time is right, when I am ready to do more baking, I think I would invest in one OK one. Then there are the mixers and such...the list goes on. Must focus on Amsterdam trip!

Out of the house

2010-01-31T01:26:00.002+08:00

I almost did not get out of the house today. I was almost going to turn mouldy in an empty house. Dad and Mum had gone to Bukit Merah Library where Dad was going to give his final series of talks. He is just so amazing, but that is another story which I might blog about later.

I was contemplating whether to go to City Square Mall to cut my hair. The last time I was there, I was given a pamphlet by this hair salon and it kinda looked good. There was a free shuttle from the town centre so that was not really a problem. The real problem was walking from home to town centre, especially now that I do not own a car anymore.

I finally made it out of the house but I was in-between times: the previous free shuttle bus had left and the next one will only come in about 15 minutes. Decided to walk to Old Chang Kee to get some munchies. After all, it is going to be 3pm and I haven't had my lunch.

Going up the shuttle was already a long queue (and I almost could not make it) and then when I reached the mall, there was another beeline for the ATM. Lunch became tunch and it was quite late when I decided to go check out the price from Creme hairdressing. I had wanted to cut and do treatment.

There was no usual frustration as I slowly explained what I wanted (even though I did not really know what I want except that I had wanted bangs). I was also very assertive as to what I wanted and did not want. She was trying to push for me to do another scalp treatment and I told her (more than once) that I would just try out the present one that she has on offer before trying the other treatment next time.

All in all, I am very satisfied with the cut and treatment today. It is almost like Reds, my previous, previous hair salon but more expensive than the one at Toa Payoh Lorong one. This one might be it for me.

Oh yes, forgot to mention that while I was having lunch on the fourth floor food court, I had a nice and full view of the the Thaipusam parade. There was also the Haiti Relief Fund-raising and I did my part but did not stay back to see the performances though. I saw Babe Conde trying out the piano but felt that it would be too late for me if I stayed back to wait for the concert to start at 8pm.

Did I just "all in all"? Well that was for the hairy issues. In general though, I enjoyed my day and am glad to have made it out of the house :)

Fine line between deal or no deal

2010-01-26T23:30:00.003+08:00

Sometimes, I really do find that it is tough to be salesperson. You never what you said or did might just trigger a bad reaction or impression on your potential customer.

I went to a gym tonight under the invitation of an ex-colleague. This particular club has got Jackie Chan as its branding. It has been yonks, and I mean yonks, since I last visited a gym. I was with Planet Fitness before and now it is no longer even existing. It got bought over and was re-named as something else (not going to give free publicity though).

My friend/ ex-colleague introduced me to her personal trainer (PT) and they decided to let me do a fat/muscle/weight thingy. Hmm...it must have been bad coz the PT shook his head and went "Tsk, tsk, tsk..." in a dramatic manner by shaking his head. I suppose he thought that this would spur me on to sign on with the club but it just spouted negativity and I thought to myself that it must have been my fats area (I am conscious about it mah). As much as I know that I am on the plump side, I really do not wish people to make remarks or have such reactions like that. It is a rather sensitive issue.

Anyhow, that "Tsk, tsk, tsk..." and the fact that he said something like "...we can make you more sexy", just did not go down well with me. I suppose there was nothing wrong with what he said, but somehow, to me, there was some negative connotation to it and I quite decided then that I do not want to sign up already, even before the branch manager spoke to me. I mean, am I not already sexy? Duh! Anyway, I feel sexy already so if he meant to say "slimmer", then say so.

The thing is, everyone will have their own idiosyncrasies and their own likes and dislikes of words that should and should not be used. Therefore, I really feel that a service/ sales person's job is 100 times tougher than most others as they need to get the chemistry right with each and every customer.

Maybe though, just maybe, I am fussy. :P

Just a poem

2010-01-24T19:03:00.003+08:00

Can you see that I am bleeding?
Can you see me pleading?
I am searching for a sign, any answer of any kind.
There isn't any,
It's just my wishful thinking.

I think it is time to move on
And not fret and frown;
About the has and has-beens,
What and what-nots.

I think some would call me totally silly.
As this is a one-sided love only.
But somehow I know that you know.
It's just a matter of: "Let's just try this",
"Or we don't".

Now it's time to set myself free
And not let love and its matters bind me.
It's funny how I am the self-suffering kind,
I need to break this pattern and let me know I am fine.
The earth doth turn and people still breathe.
So if you do not love me,
Let me go, please.

Torture me not with your mind playing games,
With your innocent flirts
And harmless sweet-nothings.
As you protect yourself from possible hurt and pain,
So must I, in my own way.

Think not, will I of you when I am free.
Look not, at my phone when it gives out a 'beep'.
My dreams will not be filled with thee,
My plans will only be for me.
For I must continue to love myself,
My fragile soul and my health.

Adieu to you and all the rest.
Until someone is willing to attest,
And let me know what they feel in their chest.
Whether Cupid has taken his shot,
Or whether he, did not.

Alo bonjour to the new me,
Be strong I say, courage is what I should see.
With any little tiny bits of sadness and heartbreak packed.
I should just leave this poem simply at that.

I think I am going through this phase where I need to convince myself that I am OK. I am fine, really. Especially after I write such poems to express my feelings. I just wished that I had enough courage to go ask this person regarding the way our relationship is going. But due to a previous bad experience (very bad), I have decided never to be the one to make the first move. Ever. I think I am going to move on from here but yet, I am not sure. That's just me though. That's why if I write it down, I am more likely to do so.

Wonderful day with friends

2010-01-23T23:48:00.001+08:00

Started the day being very apprehensive as I had some things that I had to settle. It was not pleasant and I would not evaluate any further except that all's well that ends well (hopefully I have used it correctly here).

Anyhow, we had dim sum at this very old coffee shop at Thomson and then headed towards Orchard Road where the shopping spree began!! Not before I checked myself mentally and made sure I did not spend too much though.

I saw this rain coat from Springfield that had purple hounds' tooth print and from hundred over dollars, it was only forty plus after discount. I had to keep my eyes shut and not think about it (even though I am still thinking about it now). I did buy some clothes from LVER and this other place at Far East Plaza though. They were all on discount. Oh! Not to forget a T-shirt with French words on it from Uniqlo. Uniqlo is my all-time favourite store.

My favourite part of the day was the dinner we had at The Ship. The Ship is such an old restaurant and yet, it had survived all the economic down turns to still be serving to a full house till this day. I remember my parents bringing me to this restaurant at Bukit Timah Shopping Centre was a really, really little. It is no longer there but I am sure glad it is still around at Shaw Centre.

When I went there last time (which was when I was really little), I remember the booth seats were actually built into this ship! That means, the ship had cut out spaces for the booth seats. This time around, the booth seats still had red cushioned seats but the ship shape is gone. No matter though for we got to eat really nice steaks (nicer than Jack's Place in my opinion). I took the sizzling steak while Spacecake too the Cognac steak, which was spectacular. The minute the Cognac steak was brought to our table, the thought of Switzerland came to mind. I have never had this reaction before. Must be that the smell of the steak was similar to that of those I had in Switzerland.

Good company and good food. What can I say? I had a really satisfying meal. Oh, did I mention that we almost did not manage to get a seat as most of the tables were reserved? We were lucky to have found a place to seat.

Only small boo-boo was that they forgot to ask whether we wanted cream, chives and bacon bits on our baked potato. No matter. I should be going back there soon.